The opportunity in Uttar Pradesh

As a result of the CM’s vision of “Reform, Perform, Transform” under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the state has reaped the benefit of a “double-engine government” and emerged as one of the favourite destinations for investors.

One of the primary reasons for this is the UP government being at the forefront of embracing digital transformation and relentlessly pushing the PM’s vision of a Digital India. The UP government has relied on e-governance as it fosters a broader change in the relationship between the government and stakeholders. As part of this, a single-window clearance system has been implemented, which has made the investment process extremely user-friendly. The UP government came up with new policies with a focus on “ease of doing business”, particularly in the food processing, electronics, textiles and pharmaceutical sectors. As a result of this, the state jumped from the twelfth to the second position, in terms of ease of doing business in India.

Industry leaders like Microsoft, Samsung, Reliance, Adani Enterprises, Hiranandani Group, etc. are among the big names making investments in the state.

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Other investments combined with the Investors Summit resulted in a total investment of Rs 4.28 lakh crore out of which proposals worth Rs 1.05 lakh crore have materialised already. In the first phase of the ground breaking ceremony, investment proposals for 81 projects amounting to more than Rs 61,800 crore have materialised. This includes investments by top companies such as Infosys, Reliance and Paytm in crucial projects. Meanwhile, the second phase saw investment proposals for 290 projects amounting to more than Rs 67,000 crore. Of these, investment projects worth around Rs 96,000 crore are on the verge or have already started commercial operations.

As we get ready for our third ground breaking ceremony of around 1,400 projects worth Rs 80,000, it is one more step towards achieving the target of the state becoming a $1 trillion economy.

It has been one of our major tasks to reignite the true engine of the state’s economic growth — MSMEs. The government will see 805 units of the MSME department roll out projects worth Rs 4,459 crore. This investment is part of the 1,400 projects worth Rs 80,000 crore slated to be launched during the ceremony. The investment will give a big push to the state’s economy while creating jobs for people in their own districts and the targeted chunk of investment alone will generate over 5,00,000 jobs in the state.

The highest number of MSME units will be set up in Gautam Buddha Nagar and Ghaziabad districts where 309 units will come up with an investment of Rs 1,847 crore. Here, 3,800 employment opportunities will be created. It will be followed by Mathura where 67 units are coming up at an investment of Rs 547 crore. Together, they will create 2,153 jobs.

Projects worth around Rs 20,000 crore in the data centre sector, followed by projects worth around Rs 11,300 crore in the agri and allied sector, projects worth around Rs 7,800 crore in the IT and electronics sector will be launched besides many others in the textile, tourism, energy and pharma sectors.

Some prominent investors include: Adani Group’s data centre (Rs 5,100 crore), Hiranandani Group’s two data centres in Noida (Rs 9,100 crore), Microsoft’s software development centre (Rs 2,100 crore) and Dalmia Group’s cement manufacturing plant in Mirzapur (Rs 600 crore).

The huge interest shown in the state by top industrial houses across a variety of sectors will go a long way in boosting the state’s economy and is likely to create lakhs of jobs. This has been possible because of the sustained efforts of the state government to provide a conducive work environment to global and multinational companies.

This includes providing ease of doing business, starting with the setting up of companies to build infrastructure, provide security, human resources and a suitable environment to highly-skilled professionals and executives.

(The writer is Additional Chief Secretary, Department of MSME, Government of Uttar Pradesh.)