UP plans groundbreaking ceremony in July for projects worth Rs 70,000 cr

PM Modi or Amit Shah will be the chief guest at the event

The Uttar Pradesh government plans to launch industrial and infrastructure projects worth almost Rs 70,000 crore next month, said a minister.

The projects come from the 1,047 memorandums of understanding (MoU) the state government and companies signed during the ‘UP Investors Summit’ in Lucknow in February. The MoUs committed investments worth Rs 4.68 trillion in the state. 

“We are planning to organise second ground breaking ceremony next month for projects worth Rs 60,000-70,000 crore after Parliament session gets over,” UP industrial development and MSME minister Satish Mahana told Business Standard.

The event is likely to be held in the last week of July as the ongoing maiden session of the 17th Lok Sabha is scheduled to end on July 26.

Mahana said the state was looking to invite PM Narendra Modi or Union home minister Amit Shah to preside over the event.

The projects lined up for foundation laying at the proposed ground breaking event pertain to different sectors, including electronics, infrastructure, food processing and textiles. The companies and industrial houses, whose projects are likely to be launched, comprise Aditya Birla Group, Vivo, Azure Power, Adani Gas, Samsung, Torrent, Medanta Hospital, J K Cement, among others.

On July 29, 2018, PM Modi had laid the foundation of projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore. He had also exhorted UP and Maharashtra to race for becoming India’s first trillion dollar state economy.

Later, UP had announced it will organise a second ground breaking ceremony, but the proposed ceremony was postponed multiple times owing to lack of adequate groundwork, including land acquisition and clearances. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had expressed displeasure over the delay.

Adityanath recently directed officials to rationalise processes to encourage investment and to resolve industrial matters within 7 days. He suggested action against district magistrates, who fail to resolve no objection certificate (NoC) issues within the stipulated time.

Of the projects launched at the first ground breaking ceremony in July 2018, the state claims that 29 projects worth Rs 30,000 crore have started commercial production and the rest 52 projects were nearing completion.

The state is planning to host the next investors' summit in February 2020. It would be organised on a grand scale to position UP as an ideal investment destination. In the last summit, the state had hosted foreign delegates from Mauritius, Japan, the Netherlands, Finland, Czech Republic, Thailand and Slovakia.