The UP Investors’ Summit 2018 was first of it’s kind under the leadership of UP Chief Minister to boost the economy of Uttar Pradesh. The CM signed 1,045 MoUs of 4.28 trillion dollars worth of investments from corporate conglomerates and various Head of the States, who attended the summit along with other notable personalities. In less than a year’s time, Yogi Adityanath’s government has been able to change the negative image of the state and has given a glimmer of hope to people of the state as well as global investors. The aim of the investment summit was to provide a common platform for various stakeholders from corporate conglomerates to Head of States to come together and contribute towards the development of the state, Reports Vipin Agnihotri in Governance Democracy & Politics (GDP), March Issue
Ever since BJP won the State Elections of Uttar Pradesh with a landslide margin, CM Yogi Adityanath has been adamant to change the face of the state and convert it into an investment hub for investors from different sectors. And that is where, right from the moment, CM Yogi took over the reins of the state with the largest population in the country, he has ushered in a renewed hope amongst the population of UP especially the youth of the state and has taken definitive measures to develop the state.
The UP Investors’ Summit 2018 was first of it’s kind under the leadership of UP Chief Minister to boost the economy of Uttar Pradesh. The CM signed 1,045 MoUs of 4.28 trillion dollars worth of investments from corporate conglomerates and various Head of the States, who attended the summit along with other notable personalities.
The Who’s Who Of The World
The UP Investors’ Summit 2018 was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the 21st of February in Lucknow. The summit also saw Industry Leaders such as Gautam Adani, Mukesh Ambani, Anand Mahindra, KM Birla and many other prominent industrialists, along with Head of the States, Ministers from the Government of India such as Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Smriti Irani, Piyush Goyal, as well as seasoned policy makers, scholarly persons and executives of International Institutions from across the globe were present at investors’ summit. They were interested to invest towards the growth of “New” Uttar Pradesh, thus, paving way for economic development and employment opportunities for the people of the state.
Ushering Of A New Era In UP
In less than a year’s time, Yogi Adityanath’s government has been able to change the negative image of the state and has given a glimmer of hope to people of the state as well as global investors. The aim of the investment summit was to provide a common platform for various stakeholders from corporate conglomerates to Head of States to come together and contribute towards the development of the state. UP CM claimed that global investors summit’s objective is “the betterment of the public. Through this event, UP will get an opportunity to change its image. Hence, it is the responsibility of every department that it should strive for its success.” The outcome of the investor’s conference will help the foreign investment in India as the development of Uttar Pradesh will definitely be reflected upon the overall growth of the country and will be able to provide adequate job opportunities for the people of the state and more importantly the youth of UP. The investors would be interested in investing their capital on the infrastructural development of the state in return creating more employment opportunities.
Investors Eager To Invest In ‘Yogi Model’
The investors conference saw many summit partners announcing their wish to invest in the investment opportunities available in UP as Aditya Birla Group declaring that they’ll be investing Rs.25000 crore in UP in the next 5 years, mentioning areas of finance, cement, and chemicals alongside other avenues as opportunities for investment as the company is already working on ground in 400 villages of the state under its CSR segment. While Mukesh Ambani, the head of Reliance Industries Limited, assured of an additional investment of Rs.10000 crore through Reliance Jio the subsidiary of RIL within next 3 years, to the existing Rs.20000 crore that has been already invested in Uttar Pradesh. The RIL Chief spoke of his desire to equip the youth of the state with smartphones to make them ‘smart youth’, thus, the company will ensure the availability of over 2 crore smartphones within next two months. Mukesh Ambani spoke of partnering with the government to provide proper assistance in ‘Namami Gange’ project. The Adani Group also pitched in with an investment of Rs.35000 crore in UP in the next 5 years. The founder of Adani Group, Gautam Adani spoke at the inaugural session of UP Investors’ Summit 2018 and emphasized on energy, logistics, solar power, roads and agriculture as the core sectors where the conglomerate has been working and wanted to invest in these fields.
Government Contributing To The Development Of UP
The Modi Government announced an investment of Rs.20000 Crore for a defence corridor in Bundelkhand region to develop one of the most backward regions of the state. The prime minister stated at the UP Investors’ Summit 2018 that, “one of the two defence industrial corridors mentioned in the budget, one is proposed in the Bundelkhand region of the state which will bring an investment of Rs20,000 crore and generate employment avenues for 2.5 lakh people,” emphasizing on the potential opportunities for growth in the state which were neglected by Akhilesh’s Government. PM Modi believes that the Yogi Government and people of Uttar Pradesh will deliver their best and work cohesively towards the development of the state.
India Is Watching
UP Investors Summit 2018 was watched closely in the political and media circle, as such major influx of capital can increase foreign investment and help in the growth of country’s economy. The market responded well after leading players of the Industry announced investments at the UP Investors’ Summit as both NIFTY and Sensex performed well. The BJP Government both at the Center and the State is cautious nowadays, as any move can have a negative or positive effect on their poll campaign before 2019 General Elections, and affect party’s chances of securing majority in the Lok Sabha similar to the one they secured in 2014.
Small, Medium Investors Too Show Intent
If stated intent and MoUs are anything to go by, Uttar Pradesh is all set for a turnaround. “It was always said and widely felt UP required several Noida-type industrial hubs. The state appears to be on way now towards realising the objective,” union minister Manoj Sinha said after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had set the tone for the summit by saying that under Yogi Adityanath, the most populous state was set to shed its ‘BIMARU’ image.
After top industrialists had pledged impressive commitments, small and medium investors followed. There were scores of such investors who showed intent, going for the nearly 73 MoUs of Rs 1000 crore or above that had been revealed by the evening. For instance Atul Gupta, a wheel-chair bound differently-abled investor along with his partner Harsh Garg, arrived from Meerut to ink a Rs 300 crore pact for setting up a five star hotel in Amausi industrial area.
“This is a good time to invest in the state,” said Gupta echoing a popular sentiment first expressed by the PM Modi during inaugural session. An elated UP’s industry minister Satish Mahana believes that the government plans to channel these investments to underdeveloped and hitherto neglected areas of the state.
“We plan to transform regions like Bundelkhand where the PM has already spoken of a dedicated defence corridor. Massive investments have been proposed in the field of solar energy. Mind you, these are firm commitments,” Mahana said. Mrityunjay Kumar, the advisor to the UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, said the chief minister was taking special interest in expressways that connect Bundelkhand and eastern UP, also called Purvanchal. “The idea is to bring about a transformation and in a set timeframe,” says UP BJP general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak. Is there a timeframe? “Yes. Already people have started saying they are feeling a change. In a couple of years, our political opponents too would admit this,” says Mahana.
Renewable Energy Draws Maximum Investors
Renewable energy sector has attracted the highest amount of potential investment during the investors’ summit with entrepreneurs evincing interest in this relatively new field. “As many as 46 MoUs for projects worth Rs 67,000 crore have already been signed for renewable energy. The number is likely to go up,” UP minister for renewable energy Brijesh Pathak said while addressing a session on ‘Renewable energy in Uttar Pradesh.
Pathak said he was happy to see the investors’ interest in renewable energy and added that all possible help would be provided to entrepreneurs in setting up plants. Giving a presentation on UP’s New Solar Policy (2017), principal secretary, energy, Alok Kumar said the state had immense potential of generating solar power with availability of abundant sunlight and land. He said the policy provided a lot of incentives to entrepreneurs willing to set up solar plants in UP.
Kumar said the demand for renewable energy, which in UP’s context largely meant solar, was bound to increase in future. “Discoms will have to buy at least 42 billion units of power from renewable sources in a year against 3.5 billion units that they purchase today,” he said.
