UP Investors' Summit 2018: PM Modi turns salesman for 'Brand UP'

The PM said the state was key to India's development, adding "Yogi Sarkar" had ushered in a positive narrative about UP and laid the foundation for a prosperous state within a short span of time

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday donned the mantle of a salesman to promote ‘Brand UP’ amid a galaxy of India Inc and marquee investors with rapt attention.

With the Yogi Adityanath government eyeing Rs 5 trillion in investment commitments at the Summit, Modi, who inaugurated the mega event, hailed Uttar Pradesh's development potential before the prospective investors.

He said the state was key to India’s development, adding “Yogi Sarkar” had ushered in a positive narrative about UP and laid the foundation for a prosperous state within a short span of time.

Modi, in fact, exhorted UP and Maharashtra to compete with each other in becoming the first trillion dollar economy in India, while stressing upon the theme of cooperative and competitive federalism among the states for inclusive development.

The PM touched upon the aspects of natural resources of UP, district-specific traditional industries, tourism, high agricultural production, MSME bench strength etc to stress the largely untapped potential in the state.

Modi also referred to the rich cultural, historic and heritage wealth of the state to dwell upon the tourism potential for a speedier socio-economic turnaround for over 200 million people. He said UP had witnessed the highest growth in air traffic despite having only three operational airports at present. PM  said the food processing sector should be leveraged for increasing farm incomes.

Modi also waxed eloquent upon Adityanath for putting together the state’s first mega Investors Summit, saying the change in UP was now palpable, since all the top industrialists were in attendance and willing to partner the state.

During the Summit, the PM announced setting up of a defence manufacturing corridor in Bundelkhand for boosting the socioeconomic development in the impoverished region, known for large scale migration of youth in search of employment. He said the corridor would result in direct investment of almost Rs 200 billion and generate over 2,50,000 jobs.

Modi praised the ‘One District, One Product’ (ODOP) scheme of the Adityanath regime, which aims at promoting district specific industries for reviving local economy and generating employment.

The two-day mega Summit is hosting 5,000 national and international industrialists and investors, including Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Rashesh Shah, Subhash Chandra, Anand Mahindra, Naresh Trehan etc.

The Adityanath government has already signed 1,045 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth over Rs 4.28 trillion in different sectors, including agriculture, food processing, tourism, infrastructure, IT, dairy, MSME etc.

In his address, the CM said UP Annual Budget 2018 was also to the tune of Rs 4.28 trillion and as much private investment commitment had already accrued.

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani said UP’s development was imperative for India’s development even as he suggested the state to take the digital bus for faster socioeconomic growth and leveraging its demography. He announced Jio would invest Rs 100 billion in the next three years, while group companies would generate 40,000 new jobs for the youth.

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani praised CM Adityanath for his style of leadership, governance, and administration with prime focus on improving law and order and ensuring compliance, which he observed was leading the state’s transformation. He announced an investment of Rs 350 billion over the next 5 years.

The Summit was also addressed by Kumar Mangalam Birla, Anand Mahindra and Rashesh Shah. Mahindra said UP was a country in itself and it should, in fact, try to compete with countries rather than other states on the sheer basis of its large population and manpower. He announced to set up an electric vehicle plant in the state.

In all, there would be 30 different sessions to be organised on the two days of the Summit and attended by union ministers and the investor community. On Wednesday night, Adityanath is also slated to host a power dinner for about 200 dignitaries, including top industry captains, investors and foreign dignitaries.

President Ram Nath Kovind would be the chief guest at the valedictory ceremony on Thursday. The Summit is touted as the biggest such event in the calendar of the ‘City of Nawabs’, the endearing eponymous of Lucknow.

In run up to the Summit, the government had organised roadshows at six metropolises, including New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad.