New Delhi: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on three-day US visit on Saturday, one of his colleagues recalled his 1997 visit to the United States. CK Patel, a businessman from Gujarat based in the US, said that PM Modi always had the idea of setting up a vibrant economic hub in India and that the concept of the Gift City in Gujarat might have taken shape in his mind when he travelled to the US nearly three decades back.
Patel said that Prime Minister Modi was very inquisitive about the central business district of Los Angeles, when he visited the US in the 1997. “One night, I took him to Downtown Los Angeles. During that walk, the vision for Gift City began to take shape. As we explored the area, Narendra bhai said ‘Downtown is a concentrated area with skyscrapers. This is where the economy thrives, with banks, corporate offices, and large institutions driving the city’,” Patel added.
Patel attributed the realisation of the GIFT City in Gujarat to PM Modi’s visit to the US in 1997. “What Modi saw in the US likely sowed the seeds for the Gift City in Gujarat,” he added.
Recalling his visit to the seashore in Los Angeles with PM Modi, Patel said when the Prime Minister saw high-rise buildings, tourists, and bustling restaurants, he had asked why Gujarat can’t be developed in the same way saying the state too has a vast coastline.
“It was fascinating to see how he (Modi) connected everything he saw in the US to the potential development of India. Whenever he saw something new, he would ask questions, and link it to how it could be beneficial back home,” Patel said.
Gandhinagar-based Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) is India’s first operational smart city with infrastructure for international banking, insurance and capital markets. GIFT City, based on a tri-city concept, is spread over 886 acres of area and is located on the banks of the Sabarmati river between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. Last year, PM Modi said that GIFT City has the potential to become the gateway to the global fintech world and a fintech laboratory.
Prime Minister Modi left for the US today morning to take part in the Quad summit and address the ‘Summit of the Future’ at the UN General Assembly in New York. During his three-day visit, he will hold bilateral talks with US President Joe Biden and other world leaders besides addressing Indian diaspora and interacting with CEOs of top US-based firms working in the technology sector.
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