Hungry lion king looks West

AHMEDABAD: He got driven out of rest of India by the tiger. He got refuge in a jagged land formation, in between the Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Cambay which, coincidently, resembles the face of an open-jawed lion.

Gir today has 359 Asiatic lions and it is the only place in the world where they live in the wild.

It is also a symbol of Gujarati pride, which is peaking as the state prepares to host the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit on January 12-13. For the first time, the world is flocking to this biennial event, the fourth to be organised by Chief Minister Narendra Modi, with 30 countries and 60 transnational companies joining the party.

The lion-skull formation has become Gujarat���s biggest advantage today. A string of ports along its 1,600-km coastline, the longest among states in India, already exists and there are more in the making as MoUs worth nearly Rs 60,000 crore are expected to be made at the summit next week for port and ship-building. Add to that a number of giant power plants which are coming up on the coast, using the sea route to import coal.

Gujarat is pitching itself as a robust manufacturing base along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, with a fully developed circle of ports to choose from for exports to the world. Goods from the hinterland of DMIC, namely Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh will also go through these ports, as they would not have to travel to Mumbai.

The reason why Japan, which is helping build the DMIC, is also a partner country in Vibrant Gujarat is that Gujarat will be its window to the western world ��� using the cheap labour here to send out finished goods to the Middle-East, Africa and, most importantly, Europe. Not surprisingly, many European and US companies are also saluting the Lion King and are ready with agreements to be signed next week.

The strategic location of Gujarat, as it opens out into the Arabian Sea, has been historically important for trade and commerce, with ancient ports like Lothal, Bharuch, Cambay, Surat and Mandvi having had mercantile links with the world for ages.