The Indian business delegation that went to China and Hong Kong with chief minister Anandiben Patel, additional chief secretary (industry and mines) Arvind Agarwal have in total inked 22 MoUs worth Rs 30,000 crore between Gujarat government, state-based industries and Chinese industries/ government organizations. Of these two were major MoUs including creation of new smart city spread over 20 sq km entailing investment of Rs 19,000 crore and industrial park. The biggest take away from this tour was the rapport that was created between Gujarat and the Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

One of the major MoUs that was signed during this visit between by China Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Ltd (CSMEIL) with Industrial Extension Bureau (iNDEXTb) and Gujarat government was for setting up of two industrial parks worth Rs 10,000 crore in the state. One will be a textile park at Sanand (near Ahmedabad) and the second will be a general industrial park, said Arvind Agarwal, additional chief secretary (Industries & Mines), of the state government. These two parks will be in addition to the industrial park focused on engineering sector that the Chinese are setting up at Karjan, near Vadodara.

In the first phase, CSMEIL will set up a textile park in Sanand and they have already started looking for suitable land in the area. In the next phase, they will develop general industrial park for which the location is yet to be decided.

The delegation identified specific sector of cooperation where Gujarat can benefit from the Chinese experience. The new opportunities for partnerships identified were in low-cost housing, skill development, agro-processing, agri-technology, urban infrastructure, among others.

A total of 22 MoUs signed between the Industrial Extension Bureau (iNDEXTb) and various companies in China and Hong Kong, across sectors of renewable energy, sustainable infrastructure development, affordable housing, smart cities, textiles, industrial parks, pharmaceuticals, automotive, electrical engineering and logistics.

In order to take some of these MoUs forward, a senior advisor to the provincial government of Guangdong, Lin Musheng will be visiting Gujarat with a business delegation in July 2015.