Here's an interesting fact: Gujarat represents 5 per cent of the total population yet its contribution to India's GDP is 7 per cent. It won't be surprising if we were to say that Gujarat today has become the face of corporate India. To emphasise the argument a little more we present some of the facts that make it even more compelling:
• Gujarat is the only state in India to have a statewide gas grid of 2,200 km
• Nearly 100 per cent of Gujarat's villages have 24-hour electricity access
• About 87.9 per cent of the total roads in the state are asphalt surfaced and its 98.8 per cent villages are connected with all-weather roads
• Gujarat has the largest optical fiber cable network of more than 50,000 km
• The state registered 12.8 per cent agricultural growth over the past five years against the national average of 2 per cent.
• 30 per cent of BSE-500 companies have presence in the state
• As per RBI, in 2006-07, of the total finance companies, 26 per cent were in Gujarat