LUCKNOW: Calling upon the Opposition to join the efforts being taken to lead the state towards accomplishing the one trillion dollar economy target, UP Minister of Industrial development Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’ said it had closed its eyes to the development done in the state since 2017.
“For the holistic development of the state and taking it ahead on the path of growth, everyone should unite instead of spearheading a misinformation campaign against the government. But leaders like Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will never understand it as he might have inherited a political legacy but that does not give him political acumen. People are witness to the role the opposition is playing and they have rejected such forces,” said Nandi while counting on the achievements and growth of the state during the last six years.
Nandi, a businessman himself running industrial units, and currently looking after export promotion, NRI and investment promotion besides the industrial development in the state, attributes the success of the recently concluded UP GIS-2023 which witnessed the biggest ever investment proposals to the tune of Rs 33.5 lakh crore coming to UP with the signing of over 19000 MoUs to the leadership of Yogi Adityanath and the teamwork by the ministers and officers to make the event successful.
In the first candid conversation after the conclusion of GIS-2023 with TNIE, the UP industry minister claimed that he could sail through the business meet which witnessed the participation of over 2000 delegates, including 1000 plus from over 40 countries, smoothly as he had the advantage of pre-empting problems as a businessman and find their solutions.
While sharing the journey from conceptualization to the execution of the Global Investor Summit -2023, Nandi claimed that GIS was a step towards making the state a one trillion dollar economy.
“Making UP an economy worth one trillion dollars is not merely a slogan. To accomplish it, CM Yogi met financial giants like Deloitte, KPMG, BCG, Grant Thronton and Invest India. He also drew a roadmap with cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats. The bottlenecks and challenges were identified and the final thought of having a global investors summit cropped up,” said Nandi while sharing how the ministers visited 21 cities across 16 foreign countries to draw investment followed by a roadshow in 8 major cities of the country.
On big investment proposals on the dashboard after the meet, the minister belched out a list of key investment proposals including Rs 75000 crore from Reliance group, Rs 50,000 crore from ABC Cleantech, Rs 42,000 crore from NTPC, Rs 40,000 crore from Unicorn Energy, a German firm, Rs 40,000 crore from GMR group, Rs 25,000 crore each from Aditya Birla and Hindujas.
On what worked for UP, the minister said: “Improvement in law and order as well as the crackdown on the mafia has added to the confidence of investors. They know that under this government, their investment will be safe. Under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi and CM Yogi, the golden period of UP has started. Today, India is the destination for investors from across the globe. And, in India, Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the prime destination for investment.”
He also mentioned business-friendly policies across 25 sectors, infrastructural development, and unprecedented road, rail, water and air connectivity that made the state investment friendly more than ever before.
On the chances of investment intents taking shape on the ground, the minister said: “The state government offers a wide range of incentives to investors. With a huge land bank, we will be able to make land available readily. From past experience, we have learnt to resolve the investors’ issues in fast-track mode.”
Besides, the MoUs would be tracked online through the Nivesh Sarathi portal besides a three-tier system involving the monitoring at the chief secretary, ministerial and Chief Minister levels, he added.
On regional data in terms of investment, the minister claimed that for the first time business meets were done across 75 districts of the state with surprising results as the investment has been received across the regions including Bundelkhand, which used to be devoid of investment in the past as it was considered to be a rocky and infertile.
“This time got an investment of over Rs 4 lakh crore which makes out to be 13 per cent of the total state figure of investment,” he said adding that all other regions had attracted the investors similarly.
He called the infamous bureaucratic red-tapism and corruption in UP as the talk of the past. “It depends on leadership. Since 2014, the bureaucracy in UP has undergone a change. Performance has become the mantra for officers. Under CM Yogi, the officers have become more proactive, swift in decision-making and programme implementation. The improvement in UP’s ranks on various verticals at the national level is the testimony to it,” he added.
“Slack officers have been side-lined. Action is being taken against corrupt officers. When the leadership is honest, the lower-level bureaucracy, too, becomes honest,” maintained Nandi.