 "Investments in UP spread across regions: Minister Nand Gopal Gupta 'Nandi'")
Leaving behind the tag of being a ‘Bimaru’ state, Uttar Pradesh (UP) has marched forward to become one of the most favoured destinations for investors. The state government has introduced a new industrial policy providing more sops, incentives, and rebates to industries. Various sectoral policies have been implemented to support these industries. Minister for Industrial Development, Export Promotion, NRI & Investment Promotion of UP, Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’, in an interview with Siddharth Kalhans of the Business Standard Samriddhi round table, shared details of the steps taken to boost the economy, exports, and industries in UP. Edited excerpts:
What has been the response from domestic and global investors to the industrial and investment policy of UP?
We have launched more than 27 policies to attract investment in specific sectors, including information technology (IT)/IT-enabled services (ITeS), data centre, electronics system design and manufacturing, defence and aerospace, electric vehicle, warehousing and logistics, tourism, textile, micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME), and more. Under the UP Industrial Investment & Employment Promotion Policy 2022, 89 proposals worth Rs 1.58 trillion have been received for granting letters of comfort (LoC), of which 36 applications, with a proposed investment of roughly Rs 24,314 crore, have been approved. The UP government is the only state to have announced a dedicated foreign direct investment (FDI) policy aimed at attracting investments from Fortune Global 500 and Fortune India 500 companies into the state. Under the UP Warehousing and Logistics Policy 2022, 84 applications worth Rs 6,987 crore have been received for LoC, of which 12 applications, with a proposed investment of Rs 662 crore, have been approved.
The government’s commitment to industrial growth is reflected in the fact that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath recently disbursed incentives amounting to Rs 1,333.05 crore to 32 companies as part of various industrial schemes.
The disbursement covered regions across UP, with particular focus on the Bundelkhand and Purvanchal regions, which received proposals worth Rs 4,153 crore. Investments in the western and central regions amounted to Rs 3,714 crore and Rs 2,847 crore, respectively. Under the IT/ITeS Policy 2022, companies like Samsung and HCLTech received incentives worth Rs 212.63 crore, further supported by the Infrastructure & Industrial Investment Policy 2012, which awarded nine units a total of Rs 935.51 crore.
UP received investment proposals worth Rs 40 trillion during the Global Investors Summit, and work has begun on projects worth Rs 10 trillion. What are the further plans, and when is the next groundbreaking ceremony planned?
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The Global Investors Summit held in February 2023 generated exceptionally positive results, bringing in investments across a range of sectors such as manufacturing, infrastructure, agriculture, renewable energy, electronics manufacturing, and textile, among others.
Memoranda of understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 33.5 trillion were signed during the event. Within a year, more than 14,000 projects worth roughly Rs 10 trillion were initiated during the groundbreaking ceremony in February 2024. Of these, 6,336 projects worth Rs 2.44 trillion have become commercially active. These investments are spread across all regions of the state, with Pashchimanchal receiving the largest share (50 per cent), followed by Purvanchal (23 per cent), Madhyanchal (14 per cent), and Bundelkhand (13 per cent). Among the districts, roughly 31.9 per cent of the total investment from signed MoUs is coming up in Gautam Buddha Nagar, followed by Lucknow (9.1 per cent), Jhansi (6.1 per cent), Sonebhadra (5.4 per cent), Ayodhya (4.3 per cent), Ghaziabad (3.5 per cent), Lalitpur (3.4 per cent), Varanasi (2.8 per cent), and Gorakhpur (2.2 per cent). Going forward, our government is relentlessly working to facilitate the commercial operations of these projects, assisting them in obtaining land permissions, licences, no-objection certificates, and other clearances.
Our focus is on making these projects commercially active as soon as possible.
Land banks have been a major issue for industries. How will the state government address this?
To facilitate rapid industrialisation, UP has approved the Nodal Investment Region for Manufacturing (Nirman) Kshetra Act, 2024, which aims to create four special investment regions (SIRs) across the state’s geographical areas, leveraging a 20,000-acre land bank.SIRs are envisioned as key investment hubs where cluster development can thrive.
The decentralisation of power from state authorities to specific SIR management will streamline processes and enhance efficiency. These regions will also facilitate ease of doing business, spur economic growth, and generate employment opportunities. UP boasts roughly 55 per cent of India’s expressway network. There are six operational and seven upcoming expressways in the state. We have identified a land bank of more than 7,000 acres across our existing industrial development authorities spread across the state, including the Noida Industrial Development Authority, Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority, Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority, Gorakhpur Industrial Development Authority, UP State Industrial Development Authority, and UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority.
Among the upcoming industrial authorities, the newly announced Bundelkhand Industrial Development Authority is being developed over more than 35,000 acres, offering immense opportunities to a range of sectors, specifically in agro and food processing, textile, renewable energy, MSME, defence, pharmaceutical, logistics, and aviation.Similarly, our government has approved for development of New Noida, also known as Dadri Noida Ghaziabad Investment Region — a well-planned city adjacent to Greater Noida. This new city will be developed by 2041 and will be based on 84 villages in Gautam Buddha Nagar and Bulandshahr districts. Of the total land to be developed, 40 per cent will be allocated for industrial use, 13 per cent for residential projects, and 18 per cent for green areas and recreational spaces. In the UP Defence Industrial Corridor, 1,700 hectares of land have already been acquired out of the proposed 5,000 hectares, and allocations for three of the six nodes have been completed. Major allocations include BrahMos, Bharat Dynamics, Adani Defence and Aerospace, MKU, Ancor Research Labs, and Amitec, among others. Further, we are in the process of developing manufacturing clusters alongside new and upcoming expressways, such as Ganga Expressway, Gorakhpur Link Expressway, etc. Integrated manufacturing clusters are being set up at Agra (1,060 acres) and Prayagraj (1,139 acres).
The Jewar International Airport in UP will soon become operational. How will it benefit investors in UP?
As South Asia’s largest airport, Jewar Airport will provide UP with direct international and domestic flight access, making it easier for investors to manage operations, travel, and business coordination. Proximity to a major international airport will reduce logistics and freight costs for businesses, especially those engaged in exports and imports, and will greatly benefit sectors like manufacturing, pharmaceutical, electronics, and agritech by ensuring faster, more reliable supply chain networks. An aviation hub at Jewar Airport is being developed on 6,300 hectares of land, with plans for a maintenance, repair, and operations cargo complex, while a multimodal logistics hub and multimodal transport hub at Boraki are also being established near the intersection of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and Western DFC.
UP has introduced a policy for FDI.
How will it work?
It provides incentives to investors, including land subsidies with capital subsidies, net state goods and services tax reimbursement, input tax credit refunds, 100 per cent exemption in stamp duty and registration, exemption in electricity duty, skill development subsidies, incentives for green industries, logistics subsidies, and incentives for research. Under this policy, 16 applications worth Rs 13,318 crore have been received, of which five applications worth Rs 1,898.52 crore have been approved.