GUJARAT

Under the scheme that will continue until Diwali, government provides 5kilos of wheat and rice in addition to the already stipulated quota of wheat provided at Rs 2 per kg, and rice at Rs 3 per kg.

With the focusing on Urbanization and development of urban facilities, which is also among the key areas under the G20 umbrella, 124 town planning (TP) schemes have been approved while 281 development works worth Rs 8,963 crore have been completed in the cities and towns.

Surat has bagged the first position in the country under theSmart CityMission, while Ahmedabad is in the third position. Gujarat has been ranked fifth in the state rankings, the release added.
The statement said that upgrades are made to infrastructural facilities across the state and a robust road Network is being created by the construction of overbridges and under bridges, especially in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara and Surat, making transportation easier for the citizens.

Gujaratregistered an impressive rise in theease of doing business(EoDB) rankings for 2020, which were announced. In the last rankings announced in September 2020, Gujarat was placed 10th.

With an EoDB feedback score of 97.77%, Gujarat stands second among all states and union territories in the EoDB rankings. Andhra Pradesh, with a feedback score of 97.89%, took the top spot.

The rankings are based on the implementation of thebusiness reform action plan(BRAP) 2020, conducted by the Department for Promotion of and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
Apart from Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, the other states which have been classified as achievers include Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

The aim of the EoDB exercise is to boost investor confidence, foster a business-friendly Climate and augment the Ease of Doing Business across the country.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated a Zen Garden and Kaizen Academy at Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) premises in Ahmedabad. These two new initiatives are phase of the PM’s vision of growing a Mini-Japan in Gujarat. The newly launched Zen Garden in Ahmedabad will show off quite a few Elements of Japanese art, culture, landscape and architecture.

The Zen garden facets a statue of Lord Buddha. The backyard is built in PARTNERSHIP with the Japan Information and Study Centre at AMA and Indo-Japan Friendship Association (IJFA), Gujarat, supported through the Hyogo International Association (HIA), Japan.

Vadodara district has the highest number of households having solar photovoltaic panels installed under theSurya Gujarat Scheme(SGS) of the .

The district has even beat other districts having bigger cities like Ahmedabad and Surat, according to data till March 2023. However, when it comes to the total installed capacity of rooftop solar power generation under the scheme, the district ranks second after Ahmedabad.
According to an official communique, the state ranks second in the country when it comes to installed solar power capacity. It has a capacity of generating 8,887.72megawatt solar power.

The installed capacity in Ahmedabad in higher than that in Vadodara. Ahmedabad district has a total installed capacity of around 2,62,000 KW under the SGS. Against this Vadodara district has a capacity of around 2,09,000 KW.

TheGujaratgovernment has decided to include ‘Maru Kumbhar’ caste in the list of Socially and Educationally Backward Classes.

According to the list of theDepartment of Social Justiceand Empowerment, ‘Kumbhar’ and its sub-castes have been included in No. 99 in the list of Socially and Educationally Backward Class. Some applicants belonging to ‘Maru Kumbhar’ caste, a sub-caste of ‘Kumbhar’ caste in Gir Somnath district, had difficulty in obtaining Socially and Educationally Backward Class certificates due to the mention of ‘Maru Kumbhar’ in their documents, which the directed the department to rectify immediately.

The department has amended the resolution to include ‘Maru Kumbhar’ caste in the list of Socially and Educationally Backward Class to make it easier for the applicants of the ‘Maru Kumbhar’ caste to get the certificates.

The Business Expectations Survey (BIES) for February 2023, carried out byProf Abhiman DasofIIM Ahmedabad(IIM-A), found that profit margins and sales had reduced compared to January.
For inflation expectations, CPI headline inflation was marginally higher at 4.94% against 4.91% in December 2022.

Around 40% of the participating companies perceive a significant (over 6%) cost increase, from 40% reported in the earlier round. Over 30% of companies in this round of the survey reported much less than normal sales, sharply up from 24% in January 2023. More than 35% of participating companies in February 2023 perceive profit margins to be much less than normal up from 28% in January 2023.

The BIES provides ways to examine the amount of slack in the economy by polling a panel of business leaders about their inflation expectations in the short and medium term.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection inGujaratincreased14%to a fresh record high of Rs 8,221 crore in February 2021 as against Rs 7,217 crore during the same month last year, shows the latest data released by the Union finance ministry. With this, Gujarat clocked the highest Growth inGSTcollection among the top manufacturing states.

Gujarat is the only manufacturing state which registered a growth above 10%. Other manufacturing states where GST collection increased include Nadu (9%), Haryana (6%), Uttar Pradesh (4%) and Karnataka (2%) and Maharashtra (2%).
Tax experts suggest that growing demand coupled with revival in industrial production pushed tax collection to go up.

On the other hand, Delhi (-3%) and Telangana (-1%) witnessed a decline in tax collection whereas in Andhra Pradesh, the tax collected remained flat.

Although the recently formed a high-level task force under former Union finance secretary Hasmukh Adhia, to prepare an action plan for corrective action to enhanceGujarats economic contribution to achieve PM Narendra Modis aim of a $5 trillion Indian economy by 2024, the statesGSDP(gross state domestic product) will have to increase its Growth rate by 25% per year.

However, state finance minister Kanu Desai projectedGSDP growthof 13% in his budget speech

TheGujaratgovernment decided to postpone the 10th edition of theVibrant Gujarat Summit, that was to be inaugurated by Prime Minister NarendraModion January 10, in the wake of a spike inCOVID-19cases, according to the Chief Minister’s Office.

The three-day summit was to be held in a big way to attract investments and delegations from many partner countries and CEOs of top companies were supposed to participate in the event.