UP emerges as most preferred investment destination, MoU worth Rs 35 lakh crore signed at UPGIS

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh has reinforced its reputation as an industry and investment-friendly state with investment deals with global giants in many sectors.

Six years ago, Uttar Pradesh was regarded as one of the most backward states in terms of industry and investment. Investors avoided UP due to a lack of infrastructure and fundamental issues such as law and order.

CM Yogi put in a lot of effort in this area after taking over the reins of the state in 2017. Uttar Pradesh has become one of the most preferred investment destinations as a result of the Chief Minister’s efforts to strengthen infrastructure, improve law and order, increase infrastructure facilities, and implement policies that foster an investor-friendly environment. UP has become an ‘achiever’ state in ‘Ease of doing business’.

Roadmap for development through investment

The Yogi government’s development saga began in 2018 with the first UP Investors Summit. As a result of this summit, investment projects worth more than Rs 4 lakh crore were launched in the state, creating thousands of jobs and kicking off investment in the state.

This was followed by the UP Global Investors Summit held in Lucknow in February this year in which MoUs involving investments totaling more than Rs 35 lakh crore were signed. Teams of ministers and officials held roadshows and business meetings in 21 cities across 16 countries to accomplish this.

Simultaneously, teams led by ministers visited many big metropolitan cities of the country and met business houses, encouraging them to invest in UP. It is estimated that 94 lakh employment opportunities will be created in the state when projects worth Rs 35 lakh crore get off the ground. Preparations are also being made to put many of these projects into action with the first groundbreaking ceremony in August.

Focus on infrastructure development

Infrastructure is the most important factor in encouraging industries, and CM Yogi has worked hard on it over the last six years. In six years, the 341 km long Purvanchal Expressway and 296 km long Bundelkhand Expressway became operational. At the same time, for Jhansi Link Expressway and Chitrakoot Link Expressway, Rs.  235 crores have been allocated. For the Bundelkhand Expressway Defence Corridor Project, there is a provision of Rs.  550 crores.

The construction of the Gorakhpur Purvanchal Link Expressway is in progress, while a provision of Rs 200 crore has been made in the budget to develop an industrial corridor on both sides of the Gorakhpur Link Expressway. In addition, it has been decided to construct the Ballia Link Expressway, which will connect Ghazipur to Majhi Ghat via Ballia.

Unprecedented work has also been done in this area:

• Development of Mega Food Park at Bahedi in Bareilly.
• The work of setting up an International Film City on 1000 acres of land in Noida is in progress.

Inauguration of Atal Industrial Infrastructure Mission:

• Establishment of a Medical Device Park with Rs 439.40 crores in the YEIDA area.
• Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning is operational in Noida.
• 241 regulatory compliance burdens were reduced for the ease of industries.
• Operation of single window portal ‘Nivesh Mitra’.  406 services available online to entrepreneurs. UP became Achievers State in ‘Ease of Doing’ Business.

Encouragement to the entrepreneurs

While the government worked tirelessly to promote industrial development, CM Yogi left no stone unturned to encourage entrepreneurs. For the establishment of small and medium industries, the government approved the new MSME Policy-2022, in which several provisions ranging from waiving stamp duty to giving capital subsidy were made. Apart from this, an annual loan scheme of Rs 2.35 lakh crore was started.

A total of 173386 people were trained as part of the Vishwakarma Shram Samman Yojana. The government also made positive efforts to increase the state’s exports. As a result, the state’s exports increased from Rs 88,987 crore to Rs 1.57 lakh crore. Furthermore, 83,000 ODOP artisans received training and toolkits. In addition, the sale of more than 20,000 products was ensured on ODOP e-commerce portal. Loans worth Rs 16,000 crore were disbursed to 1.90 lakh handicraftsmen, artisans and small entrepreneurs. Under Mukhyamantri Yuva Swarozgar Yojana, Rs.  39395 lakh was released and 1,40,296 jobs were created.

Not only this, under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Program, Rs.  2,81,060 lakh was released and 758065 jobs were created. Under the ODOP Common Facility Center scheme, projects are being run in Sitapur, Siddharth Nagar, Azamgarh, Agra, Ambedkar Nagar and Moradabad. The foundation stone of Flatted Factory Complex was laid in Agra and Kanpur and the approval of Flatted Factory, Gorakhpur was given. MoUs have been signed with Amazon.com and Amazon Global.