If the packed-to-capacity IIM auditorium bursting with politicians, bureaucrats, representatives of over 50-odd small, medium and large private corporate companies and senior officials of FIs and banks was anything to go by, then the state has already succeeded in achieving its objective of attracting the private sector by the droves.

Commenting on the agenda, Kiran Nanda, chief economist, Gujarat Ambuja Cements Lted, hailed the recently-promulgated Gujarat Infrastructure Ordinance, the BOT (build, operate and transfer) law of the state - as a "path-breaking document in the era of liberalisation." According to Nanda, `Vision 2010' opened up new vistas for private sector investment in thestate and said it would inspire anyone to come and work in the state.

Complimenting the state government on the enormous effort and homework put into preparation of the infrastructure agenda, she said it was a good sign which showed the state's commitment towards executing it practically. K Balasubramanian, associate vice-president of Nandi Engineering Ltd, part of the Kalyani group, said the 10 year time period earmarked by the state government for the agenda made it all the more realistic and achievable. He maintained that Gujarat was one state where "bureaucrats and politicians sing the same tune which is synonymous with with the intent to execute," adding that "no infrastructure project could stand on its own without political will and government cooperation."

He also said that having done considerable work on the Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board's light rail mass transit project, the Kalyani group was bullish on the infrastructure sector in Gujarat and would be participating in the biddingfor this project.

Echoing similar sentiments on the time period, Tushar Prabhu, director, Frischmann Prabhu, a UK-based feasibility, design, engineering and project management firm said the time frame for execution of such a plan was important since "it takes three to five years for any BOT project to gestate and so anything less than five years would not be sufficient while anything more than 10 years would make it a dream. What is required is a road map and ten years is sufficient for that," he said. However, striking a cautious note he said that Gujarat should learn from mistakes made by other states like Maharashtra where a similar exercise ended up as a fiasco. "We should remember that when a foreign investor looks at India, he looks at it as a whole and not as individual states and therefore extra effort is required to make him overcome his set impressions about the country as a whole and about any state in particular."

He singled out the BOT law, which will protect the interests of the investorthrough an enforceable law while also protecting public interest and is the first law of its kind in the country as "a step in the right direction since at the end of the day, an investor requires well-prepared documentation, quick approvals and a legal framework for redressal of problems."