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AgustaWestland, Cobra Beer to attend Vibrant Summit

About 21,000 MoUs will be signed during the three-day long summit.

AgustaWestland, a controversial Anglo-Italian helicopter company and a UK-based brand of beer – Cobra Beer – will be among the 60-odd British companies participating in the the seventh edition of Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit 2015 that begins on Sunday where a total of about 21,000 MoUs are scheduled to be signed between the state government and the business houses.

“About 21,000 MoUs will be signed during the three-day long summit. This includes 17,300 MoUs from the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME),” said a senior government official. The state government had signed over 17,700 MoUs in the 2013 edition of the summit and had set a target of signing 22,000 MoUs in 2015.

Meanwhile, in a formal media briefing organised on Saturday, the UK Minister for Trade and Investment, Ian Lord Livingston gave out a list of 60 UK firms attending the Vibrant Summit, which included AgustaWestland, a firm that has been mired in the VVIP chopper scam. When asked about the plans of the company representing the “defence sector” during the summit in Gujarat, Ian Lord Livingston side-stepped the question saying that a number of other British firms like OPG Power Ventures (investing an additional were among the firms investing in Gujarat.

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This is the second consecutive year when AgustaWestland is being represented at the Vibrant Summit. In 2013, the company was part of a delegation of 40 UK business leaders who had come under the banner of UK India Business Council (UKIBC), to build relations with the state. Mark Thistlethwaite, Head of Sales in the Indian Sub-Continent for helicopter firm was also among the list of speakers at the summit organised by UKIBC on the topic ‘Advanced Engineering & Manufacturing (Technology Collaboration and Transfer).

Another interesting firm in the list of UK companies attending the summit in Gujarat is Cobra Beer, promoted by Indian entrepreneurs based in the UK. However, the British officials on Saturday made it clear that the beer brand was not looking to set up a unit in Gujarat, but could explore tie-ups for bottling and labelling.

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Mott MacDonald Ltd, is another key company who is attending the Vibrant Summit. The company is the lead member of a consortium that has bid as a general engineering consultant for the first phase of Rs 10,700 crore Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project. This UK-based company is involved in the design and development of metros in Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Jaipur.

Meanwhile, companies like Rio Tinto will be inking MoUs to set up a units in Gujarat. “We have come to Gujarat, because of the opportunities in the state. These companies (60-odd UK firms) will be creating the next wave of investments in to Gujarat,” said Lord Livingston while describing the UK as the biggest G20 investor in India, which last year “invested more than” what Japan and US did together in India.

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OPG Power Ventures, which is building a 300 MW thermal power plant in Kutch, will be inking a 1.5 billion pound worth of MoU to add another 2300 MW to the upcoming plant that is yet to be commissioned.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) will also be signing an Rs 150 crore MoU with GIFT SEZ Ltd to set up an International Exchange at GIFT City project over an area of three lakh square feet. Earlier, BSE Brokers’ Forum had announced to invest Rs 200 crore for setting up operations in 4.5 lakh square feet within GIFT City.

First uploaded on: 11-01-2015 at 03:09 IST
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