LUCKNOW: The Yogi Adityanath government is all set to sell ‘Brand UP’ to potential investors at the investment summit to be held in February.
However, with proposals worth over Rs 2.7 lakh crore already under its belt, the state government has already exceeded its investment target. The summit, which is likely to see over 5,000 delegates, targets to sign memoranda of understanding (MoUs) worth almost Rs 1,00,000 crore with Indian and foreign companies.
As a prelude to the summit, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, road shows were organised in five mega cities — Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Kolkata — which have helped the state secure proposals that have already crossed the investment target. The sixth road show would be held in Ahmedabad in mid-January.
The road shows in Mumbai, held on December 21, paid the richest dividends as it yielded investment proposals worth Rs 1.25 lakh crore. The show was led by the CM himself hard selling Brand UP in the country’s financial capital. It saw the participation of corporate leaders like Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata and Ashok Hinduja.
Nearly 200 participants from Reliance, Tata, Mahindra, Essel, Hinduja, L&T, Sun Pharma, Cadila and Torrent groups evinced keen interest in investing in country’s largest state.
Similarly, the Delhi roadshow on December 8 fetched proposals worth Rs 27,000 crore while the one in Begaluru, held on December 18, brought Rs 6,000 crore. The Hyderabad road show on December 19 facilitated proposal worth Rs 11,500 crore. Except Mumbai all other roadshows were helmed by UP’s Industrial Development Minister Satish Mahana, accompanied by the bureaucrats.
However, ahead of the summit, CM Yogi Adityanath found it imperative to take industry view on investment climate in the state and the steps to be taken to make it robust and investor-friendly.
While reassuring the industry over improvement in law and order scenario, security and growth and minimising red tape, Yogi asked industry giants to put forth their suggestions to boost employment generation.
The industrialists, in turn, opened up on a number of issues ranging from need of cheap energy accessibility to setting up land banks. They laid emphasis on ‘employment’ rather than ‘investment’ and introduction of traditional industry rather than just focusing on manufacturing. Many of them asked the government to desist from frequent transfer of officers dealing with industrialists.
They also want the state government to plan industrial units evenly across districts and urged the CM to provide benefits and facilities announced by the previous governments.
They sought special focus on agricultural marketing, tourism industry, food processing and upgrade of storage and warehouse facilities since Uttar Pradesh is a state with a huge agricultural produce.
Over two dozen US companies had evinced keen interest on investing in UP in October last year. A 50-member delegation, representing 26 major US firms, had even had a detailed interaction with the state government in this regard.
Show-casing Brand UP
Uttar Pradesh investors’ summit scheduled on February 21-22 showcasing state as a preferred investment destination and highlighting investment opportunities
Over 5,000 delegates expected
MoUs worth Rs 1,00,000 crore expected to be signed
IITs, IIMs roped in by state govt as special partners for the event
Netherland, Finland and the
Czech Republic agree to be
partner countries
Industry suggestions to state govt
Consolidation of traditional industry, including agriculture, food processing, handicraft, textile, handloom, tourism and warehousing across districts
Land bank for industry
should be set up
Single window system to remove procedural road blocks
Ease of doing business should be handled by a single agency
Benefits announced by previous regimes should be ensured to investors
Investors should be considered as UP brand ambassadors
Land ceiling and similar permission requirements should be done away with
Labour law reforms and privatisation of road transport
Boost to hospitality sector by bringing in branded hotels
Education sector should focus on output based learning