UP rolls out red carpet for private investors

Says would no longer invest in manufacturing activity across all sectors.

The Uttar Pradesh government today clarified that it would no longer invest in manufacturing activity across all sectors but would, instead, roll out red carpet to the private investors.

Participating in Business Standard Roundtable on Industrial Development in Lucknow, Principal Secretary (Industrial Development) V N Garg said the government had decided to disinvest in all those sectors where private investors wanted to participate.

He listed power, tourism, transport, education, expressways and sugar as the priority sectors, where the government was vigorously pursuing the public-private partnership (PPP) model of development.

“We will primarily focus on framing policies and creating an amicable environment for business,” he said.

“However, the perception about Uttar Pradesh largely remains of an agrarian, under-developed state, where majority of the people live below poverty line,” he said.

Conceding that investment in the state was much below its potential, he said ‘Brand UP’ needed to be presented to prospective investors and industry in a much better way.

He said the government had taken several policy decisions to project Uttar Pradesh as the ideal investment destination and attract investors. “We also have to appreciate that infrastructure can not be created in a day, but over a span of time with the active participation of all the stake holders, including the government, industry and citizenry,” he said.

“There is tremendous investment opportunity available in the state given its large geographical size, population and demand and the investors must seize the opportunity,” he added.

He especially referred to the Yamuna Expressway and Ganga Expressway Projects in the state to buttress his point.

“Expressways are not merely roads, but a corridor of development. These projects will lead to a silent revolution and create several smaller townships along their course,” he said.

Besides Garg, the panelists of the ‘Round Table’, included Mirza International Chairman Irshad Mirza, Giri Institute of Development Studies Director A K Sing, CII UP Council Vice-Chairperson Jayant Krishna and World Bank consultant and Lucknow University professor Arvind Mohan.

The other participants comprised leading industrialists, economists, bankers etc.

The industry demanded an efficient single-window clearance system, representation on policy-making bodies, roadmap for development with tangible targets and special focus on MSME sector, which formed the bulk of the UP industrial base.