Besides, he also conferred the "Distinguished NRI Award" on five Gujarati Non Resident Indians, Jivan Kalyan (South Africa), Bakulbhai Mehta (Muscat), Shrikant Shah (Japan), Ms Nimisha Madhwani (Uganda) and Shashichandra Desai (Mauritius) for their exceptional achievement and selfless service on foreign shores. The awards were to be distributed by Chief Minister Narendra Modi, but he did not attend the function due to prior engagements.

Bhatt also released a biographic booklet titled "Shreshthi Shri Govindbhai Patel", showcasing his life and achievements on the occasion. He said that honouring the Mahajan (noble businessman) was an old tradition in Gujarat since the time of Kavi Dalpatram. "By honouring Govindbhai, Vishwa Gujarati Samaj has carried on with the legacy of Dalpatram", he said while referring to the efforts of the Samaj president Krishnakant Vakharia. Bhatt said that to be called a Gujarati, one need not live a life in Gujarat or be born in Gujarat but "whoever lived for Gujarat even for a single day was a Gujarati".

For Patel, it a day of double celebration, as February 2 also happens to be his birthday.

Congress Legislature Party leader Shaktisinh Gohil said on this occasion that Gujarat was known all over the world for its ideals of non-violence as taught and practised by Mahatma Gandhi. "Today's Gujarat is not great or the number one state just because of any one individual but thanks to all Gujaratis, in Gujarat and outside Gujarat ... the credit goes to six and half crore Gujaratis", he said.