Power-starved Uttar Pradesh has assured industry and potential investors that the state would be power surplus in coming years.
Power and infrastructure have often been cited as major impediments towards rapid industrialisation of the country’s largest state.
In this backdrop, the Akhilesh Yadav-led government has said UP would attain power surplus status in coming years as generating capacity addition was underway and 12,000-15,000 Mw was expected in the next 3-4 years.
UP Infrastructure & Industrial Development Commissioner (IIDC) Anil Kumar Gupta held out this promise to industry at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) investment conclave ‘Invest North’ at Gurgaon yesterday.
Participating at a panel discussion, he informed power transmission capacity would be enhanced to 30,000 Mw from the existing 11,000 Mw. Re-structured Accelerated Power Development & Reforms Programme (R-APDRP) is underway in the power distribution sector. It is being implemented in 26 towns and subsequently 400 towns with population of over 30,000 would be covered.
UP, which had already announced its Infrastructure & Industrial Investment Policy 2012, has been promoting ‘Brand UP’ at various forums. The state has realised socioeconomic transformation could come only through increased economic activity by effecting enabling investment environment.
Meanwhile, UP minister of state for Small Scale Industries & Export Promotion Bhagwat Saran Gangwar invited Indian and foreign investors to invest in various promising sectors in the state.
He underlined before investors the investor-friendly environment, abundant skilled human resources and state action plan for development of high-end infrastructure conducive to investment.
Gangwar said a better atmosphere for business and industrial development was being evolved.
“UP holds the key to India becoming a leading economy owing to its enormous resources, vastness in terms of size and available labour and skilled work force along with ever increasing consumer base.”
He also released the CII-KPMG report on ‘Investment Climate in UP’ and said the state was taking steps towards an era of balanced infrastructure and industrial development.
