Hard sell is often an attempt to hide the reality. So, when Gujarat pushes hard across the world for its Vibrant Gujarat Summit, 2015, to the extent that the entire Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is to be shifted here during the January event, there are some bitter truths about its acclaimed industrial growth story.

According to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India's (CAG) latest report, of the 50 special economic zones (SEZs) that were approved for the state, only 15 are operational, six have been denotified and as many as 29 are still to start commercial activities.

The youth were waiting for huge employment opportunities because of the SEZs but a mere sample CAG officials took of a dozen industrial units revealed that out of the projected employment opportunities of 12.47 lakh, only 42,000 offers could be generated. This, according to the CAG, meant a shortfall of nearly 93 per cent.

Significantly, the Adani Group's much-publicised Mundra SEZ in Kutch is among the low-performing SEZs.

The Adani Group, says the CAG, under-utilised as much as 87 per cent (or 5,639 hectares) of the land it bought from the state. In fact, more than 45 per cent of the land allotted to the SEZs remains unused.

The CAG found out that the actual investment proposed by the SEZs was to the tune of Rs 1,18,962 crore, but only around 50 per cent of the amount (Rs 58,861 crore) flowed in. On the positive side, Gujarat's exports from SEZs have been better than several other states but most of it is credited to the Reliance Industries Limited's SEZ since it exports petroleum products.

Official figures indicate that SEZ exports from Gujarat were to the tune of Rs 2.25 lakh crore in FY14. Gujarat's situation is no different from that of the country. As many as 625 SEZs were approved and only 152 of them are operational with a whopping 93 per cent shortfall in employment generation.

For all its claims, Gujarat, along with Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra, makes up for as much as 57 per cent of the gap in the investment in the SEZs.

In association with Mail Today

