GUJARAT

More than 20,000 students have benefited fromMS Universitys welfare scheme for poor students in a decade, which had been launched in 2012.

The first university in Gujarat to have initiated such a scheme for students based on their economic status,MSUhas granted financial support to the tune of Rs 9 crore so far.
In the first year of its launch, the publicly-funded university had granted scholarships to

the tune of Rs 4.68 lakh to 138 student beneficiaries, for which a seed capital of Rs 5 lakh was collected.

This time, in the academic year 2021-22, a total of 2,121 students have benefited as a Scholarship to the tune of Rs Rs 98.76 lakh has been sanctioned.

MoUsworth Rs 9,852 crore were signed in a single day on Monday, as industries pledged investments in manufacturing, chemicals and agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, farm equipment, hydrogen and electric autorickshaws under the state governmentsAtmanirbhar Gujaratscheme for assistance to industries.

18 MoUs for investments to start industries at different places in the state were signed in a single day in the presence of the CM.

These 18 MoUs will result in a potential of Rs 9,852 crore and 10,851 proposed EMPLOYMENT opportunities. Of these, MoUs worth Rs. 5,733 crores have been signed with the participation of foreign investors.

The government statement said all these units for which MoUs were signed will become operational by 2025. Under the MoUs, industrial units will be set up in Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Bharuch, Surat, Kutch and Sabarkantha.

Surging prices of and other raw materials have left denim manufacturers inGujarat the countrys denim capital grappling with a spike in production costs to the tune of 30%. With costlier raw materials and availability issues, denim production has declined by at least 30% over the past six months. This has left denim mills operating at an estimated 70% capacity utilisation, suggest Industry estimates.

Raw cotton prices rose from Rs 36,000 per candy in September 2020 to Rs 78,000 per candy in February 2022 over a span of 16 months adding to the Stress of the denim manufacturers. Industry estimates suggest that denim makers contribute at least 10% to the total cotton consumption in India.

Industry experts claim that the worst affected are mills that have recently entered the denim business,

as they are faced with a dual hit of not being able to pass on cost escalation to the market and repaying debts.

Figures released by thedepartment of Industrial Policyand promotion (DIPP) of the government of India state that in the past four years,Gujaratgarnered the highest proposed investments in the country.

Between 2017 and 2021, Gujarat received 1,744 IEMs (industrial entrepreneur memorandum) applications, with a proposed of nearly Rs 5,99,121 crore, accounting for almost 25% of Indias total proposed investment.

During the same period, the total IEMs applications implemented in the state were 1,218 with total reported investment of Rs 3,41,227crore, the DIPP report said.

This accounts for 25.8% of Indias total actual investment during the said period. In 2021 (January to November), Gujarat received 199 IEMs with a promised investment of Rs 50,645 crore. Of these, 106 applications were implemented during the year, and Gujarat garnered 31.6% of the total actual investments made in the country in the year.