Akhilesh Yadav rolls out red carpet to UP's diaspora

State to organise maiden UP Pravasi Diwas at Agra from today

Rolling out the red carpet to the Uttar Pradesh diaspora settled globally, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav (pictured) on Monday inaugurated the maiden ‘UP Pravasi Diwas’ in Agra. With barely a year left for the Assembly elections in 2017, the state government is on an overdrive to woo industrialists and investors, both domestic and foreign.

The Agra event, organised in consort with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, is in the same direction. About 200 delegates are participating in the January 4-6 event.

In his inaugural address, Yadav noted the presence of a large number of non-resident Indians hailing from UP displaying their willingness to connect with their roots. “The event holds great importance as this is the first large-scale engagement of the government with the UP diaspora.”

The event not only seeks to network with the large UP diaspora for investment, collaboration and cooperation, it is also an exercise to promote ‘Brand UP’ amongst industrialists and investors globally.

WOOING FOREIGN INVESTMENT

• The three-day UP NRI-Day will help forge stronger ties and attract investments for various projects to speed up development in the state
   
• The event is likely to be attended by more than 150 top NRIs from Canada, US, Singapore, Fiji, and a few west Asian countries
   
• The Akhilesh Yadav government is banking heavily on this event to present a vibrant profile of the state and attract more investments

The exposition would comprise mega infrastructure projects — Lucknow-Agra Expressway; Metro rail projects in Lucknow, Noida and Greater Noida; trans-Ganga city at Kanpur; hi-tech township in Allahabad; solar parks in Jalaun and other places; Lucknow IT city; integrated industrial cities of Noida and Greater Noida; and the upcoming electronic manufacturing hubs.

Meanwhile, Yadav conferred 16 NRIs of prominence with ‘UP Apravasi Bharatiya Ratna Award’ and dedicated to public a migrant resource centre, set up at UP Financial Corporation in Lucknow.

The feted NRIs included former Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister Basdeo Panday; UK Member of the House of Lords and health care professional Khalid Hameed; president of Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (International) Ashok Ramsaran (US); entrepreneur, philanthropist and writer Frank F Islam (US); singer and philanthropist Alka Bhatnagar (US), etc.