Deepak Dwivedi
NEW DELHI: Propelled by the double-engine Government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre and Chief Minister Adityanath Yogi in the state, Uttar Pradesh has pushed the pedal on fast-track development.
It has increased the target for investments in the UP Global Investors Summit, to be held from February 10 to 12 in Lucknow, from Rs 10 lakh crore to Rs 17 lakh crore. This is not a mere wishful dream. The state’s Gautam Buddh Nagar district, which includes industrial cities of Noida and Greater Noida, alone has already received investment proposals worth Rs 5.86 lakh crore ahead of the summit.
District-level summits
In the run-up to the UPGIS-2023, the Chief Minister had instructed state officials to hold investment summits at district levels in each of the 75 districts of the state, while roadshows were held in other states, and also some foreign countries, to attract investment.
To this end, the Government had deployed 48 former IAS, IPS and IFS officers, along with serving academics, to train the state’s educated youth and build a team of 105 Udyami Mitras (friends of investors).
A sum of Rs. 70,000 per month along with allowances would be paid to them under a new scheme, Mukhya Mantri Udyami Mitra Yojana, approved by the UP Cabinet on January 28.
They will be deployed in various districts, development authorities and Invest UP headquarters in Lucknow to attract investment and boost the size of UP’s Gross State Domestic Product to a trillion dollars in the next five years.
Response to PM’s call
Coming in the backdrop of similar investor summits in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, the UPGIS in Lucknow is in response to the Prime Minister’s call for cooperative and competitive federalism. In his seventh Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, PM Modi had said: “The need of the hour is a spirit of healthy competition among state governments, paving the way for India to reach new heights of development.
