Yogi sounds clarion calls for making UP trillion-dollar economy in 5 years

Admits that target is difficult, but not impossible to achieve; urges administration to take on challenge

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today pitchfork Uttar Pradesh for becoming a $ trillion economy over the next 5 years claiming although the target was big, but not impossible.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s observation that UP had the potential to become the country’s first trillion-dollar state economy, Adityanath, while speaking on the floor of Vidhan Sabha this afternoon, said the state and people’s representatives should accept the challenge.

“If UP becomes a trillion-dollar economy, it would favourably impact the lives of its coming generations and play a major role in their future prosperity,” he noted.

He admitted a lot of work needed to be done to achieve the target through the collective efforts of the people, government and business community.

“UP still lags far behind and it would take 12-15 years to become a trillion-dollar economy at the current rate of growth. Therefore, we need to speed up our pace and common people have to contribute towards this aim,” the CM said, recalling that India took nearly 55 years to hit the first trillion-dollar mark, but owing to proactive work culture under the Modi dispensation, the successive trillion-dollar figure was achieved within five years.

He said currently, the UP’s economy was worth Rs 15.42 trillion and if the target of a trillion dollars was to be realised, certain areas and sectors needed to be re-invigorated.

Adityanath said sectoral targets have to be fixed to fulfil the trillion-dollar goal, including real estate, trade, transport, hospitality, financial services, agriculture, mining, energy, construction, and warehousing.

He also said the state needed to garner massive investment of almost Rs 70 trillion over the next 5 years to rank as the first trillion-dollar economy in India.

The CM underlined UP had a major role to play in realising Modi’s vision of India becoming a $5 trillion economy in next five years.

Adityanath said when his government came to power in March 2017, top companies like Samsung and TCS were in the process of exiting the state, and upon enquiry cited adverse political environment for their drastic decision.

“However, I reassured them that there was change in government. The result is that while Samsung has already invested Rs 5,000 crore in UP to develop the world’s largest mobile phone plant, TCS is expanding operations in the state beyond Lucknow now,” he added.

Adityanath was speaking in House on the first Supplementary Budget 2019-20, which was tabled in UP legislature yesterday by state finance minister Rajesh Agarwal.

The CM also referred to the UP Investors’ Summit 2018, in which the state had signed memorandums of understanding (MoU) totalling about Rs 4.75 trillion, and projects worth more than Rs 60,000 crore had their foundation laid by Modi in July 2018.

Now, the state is holding another ceremony on Sunday (July 28), in which the foundation of projects worth Rs 65,000 crore would be laid by union home minister Amit Shah in the presence of top industrialists.