Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) on Thursday said Uttar Pradesh had the potential to grow by 10 per cent during the 12th Plan and investment to the tune of Rs 15,00,000 crore was feasible during the period.
The industry body said key sectors for such investment would be power and infrastructure to attract industry, which would lead to multiplier effect and generate more investment in the state.
“There is power deficit of 20 per cent in UP and the sector needs to grow by 15 per cent to give impetus to industrialisation. We firmly believe that UP has the potential and the will to partner the private sector for speedier growth,” ASSOCHAM secretary general D S Rawat said at a conference call here.
Earlier on Thursday, ASSOCHAM northern region chairman and leading industrialist Lalit Khaitan had called upon UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in New Delhi and submitted a 30-point growth agenda for the state to achieve double digit growth during the next decade.
The agenda was released in Lucknow this afternoon and later the chamber representatives also met senior government officials, including the chief secretary and infrastructure and industrial development commissioner.
“Industry promotion, international trade, agriculture and allied activities, energy, IT, SEZ, e-governance, rural employment, healthcare, housing, education, skill development, exports, infrastructure and transportation, mining, tourism, urban development, irrigation and water resources management, public-private partnership and social welfare are areas, focus on which can transform the UP economy,” Khaitan said.
The chamber has stressed upon agricultural and agro-based industry, since 60 per cent of the state population is dependant upon the sector. He informed ASSOCHAM had launched a ‘Welcome to UP’ desk at its Delhi office to facilitate investments in UP. “We will soon hold brainstorming sessions to study the economic policies of progressive Indian states with a view to possibly replicating and adapting the same in UP,” Khaitan added.
“Our association with state governments in Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh has resulted in inflow of private investment in these respective states and we are confident our role as catalyst will work for UP as well,” Rawat underlined.
ASSOCHAM has suggested UP to engage private sector and introduce investor-friendly policy to boost the investment scenario. “The government must aggressively invest in upgrading the social and physical infrastructure, offer tax exemptions, lucrative incentives and subsidies to encourage investments from industrialists,” Khaitan added.
