 "BS Samriddhi: UP linking startups with big industries to bolster economy")
Uttar Pradesh is fortifying the single window clearance system for businesses and linking the startup ecosystem with big industries in a bid to become a trillion-dollar economy in the next 4-5 years.
Participating in the Business Standard’s 'Samriddhi' roundtable in Lucknow on Wednesday, Invest UP CEO and industrial development secretary Abhishek Prakash said the state was dexterously working on its industrial development agenda.
"Our single window online clearance portal 'Nivesh Mitra' is the largest such platform in India, and it has the highest disposal rate of 97.22 per cent, which fetched us the first award from the central government last month," he said at the Samriddhi panel discussion titled 'UP: Ease of Doing Business'.
The event- attended by a large number of industrialists, bankers, economists and investors - was held to deliberate on various developmental and economic issues in UP in the wake of the state jumping to the second position in the ease of doing business ranking.
Prakash said of the private investment projects worth Rs 10 trillion launched at the groundbreaking ceremony (GBC) in February 2024, projects of Rs 2.50 trillion had already attained commercial production in the state.
"Owing to our proactive policies, we have successfully overcome the various challenges faced by UP in the path of industrialisation and ease of doing business matrices," he said.
Noting that the state government has identified challenges in logistics, access to credit and ease of movement, he said since UP is a landlocked state, the Yogi Adityanath government was promoting the inland waterways for intrastate and interstate logistics movement.
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National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) chief general manager Pankaj Kumar said the financial institution was identifying credit and market gaps in the state to spur the finance ecosystem development.
"Nabard has extended funding support of almost Rs 1 trillion to UP including Rs 30,000 crore in the infrastructure sector," he added.
UP has witnessed a remarkable growth of 70 per cent in the annual credit plan (ACP) in one year, which reflects that the investment climate has improved considerably in the state, Kumar said.
He underlined that Nabard was striving to increase the credit net further even as nearly 10,000 farmer producers' organisations (FPOs) comprising 200,000 small and marginal farmers have benefited so far. He, however, noted that the credit absorption capacity in UP was still below par, while NGO partners were also missing in some domains.
Chief general manager of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) Sanjay Gupta claimed that the robust growth seen in UP was reflected in the marked improvement in the roads, housing and infrastructure sectors.
"The MSME sector plays a significant role in the growth of an economy," he said, adding that cash flow-based financing and the digital revolution of fintech were fast gaining traction.
Gupta said Sidbi was working to support the MSMEs with the use of new technology, including creating a robust digital platform for speedier sanction of loans up to Rs 1 crore.
Varanasi-based entrepreneur Rajat Mohan Pathak claimed that the positive changes happening in the state's industrial and infra firmaments were visible, providing impetus to startups and legacy businesses alike.
"In Varanasi, a large number of new silk apparel brands have cropped up in the recent past, apart from more than 100 new ventures set up by the new generation of startup founders and entrepreneurs," he noted.
"Due to the forward-looking approach of the state government, there is an array of avenues to diversify businesses in UP," he said, adding the state is successfully creating new ecosystems for businesses to flourish and expand.