CM Adityanath woos industrialists, promises security, respect in UP

Assuring "security, respect and conducive environment", Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday invited businesses to invest in the state of "unlimited possibilities".

The UP chief minister met a slew of industrialists during his two-day visit to Mumbai.

"We will give you safety, security, respect and conducive atmosphere for setting up your businesses," an official release issued here said quoting Adityanath. The chief minister emphasised that Uttar Pradesh is soon going to compete with the best of the world in the field of basic infrastructure.

He said the state's vast population is a huge resource as well as a big market for businesses.

In an interaction with top corporate honchos, including Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran, realtor Niranjan Hiranandani who also heads an industry lobby, S N Subrahmanyan of engineering major L&T and Baba Kalyani of Bharat Forge, Adityanath also spoke about the landmark projects being executed in the state.

The chief minister said that there are a total of 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh and many still require medical colleges and there is an opportunity for investors to make these colleges on PPP (public-private partnership) model.

Besides, the state needs super-speciality hospitals and the government will extend full support if somebody wants to set up these hospitals, he added.

For example, Gorakhpur has many patients coming from Bihar and Nepal and the super-speciality hospitals are always needed there, the release said quoting the chief minister.

The chief minister said that businesses should explore opportunities in Uttar Pradesh, which is a state of "unlimited possibilities".

While interacting with reporters in the financial capital, Adityanath said, "People are interested in investing more because law and order situation is better now and the administration is more transparent now."

Adityanath said he keeps meeting industrialists in Lucknow as well, but thought it apt to meet them during a visit to the financial capital.

He said UP is a "safe state" from the COVID perspective and has been able to control infections nicely through interventions like free testing and treatment.

During the pandemic, the most populous state, which is also home to largest number of micro-enterprises, has been able to connect 10.5 lakh units with banking services, he said.

The state is focusing on improving the basic infrastructure services through projects like expressways and airports, he said.

Work on a defence manufacturing corridor which will be spread across six identified zones is also on, he said.

Earlier in the day, Adityanath presided over an event at Asia's largest stock bourse BSE, where Lucknow Municipal Corporation's recently issued bonds got listed.

The civic body raised Rs 200 crore from investors by selling ten-year paper at the coupon of 8.5 per cent and will be followed by Ghaziabad with a similar offering to investors, Adityanath said.

The chief minister said a switch to the bond issues helps in infrastructure development in the urban areas and also affirms the commitment of the city to invest towards services for its citizens.

Since he came to power, over Rs 3 lakh crore has been invested in the state, Adityanath said.