Uttar Pradesh industry in 'renaissance' phase

Industry in Uttar Pradesh is passing through a 'renaissance' phase. While some industries are decreasing operations in the state, many are making inroads to set up their ventures in the state.

The retail sector is playing a major role in the development of the state's economy. In the recent past, UP has not only seen the setting up of major retail chains in the state but has also witnessed the exit of some big names like Reliance Fresh. Today, UP houses a wide network of retail chains like Big Bazaar, Pantaloon, Subiksha, Spencer's, to name a few.

The growing mall culture has also uplifted industry operations besides giving a boost to the retail format. Lucknow alone would be home to about 15 malls, including five already existing ones, five years down the line.

The new business mantra has best worked for the real estate industry. The land prices in the state have increased manifold.

UP is now the hotspot for real estate developers like Omaxe, Parasvanath and Ansals. M-Tech and Sahara Housing and Infrastructure have already started their muti-crore projects in the state.

These have also made B and C class cities come up in line with the metros. Many developers have planned their muti-crore townships, with world class facilities, in cities like Allahabad, Meerut and Varanasi. The average price for various residential units under these townships range from Rs 20 lakh to a few crore.

The telecom industry in the state has also seen a surge in activity. The subscriber base for all the cellular operators is increasing manifold.

Vodaphone enjoys the biggest market share in terms of customer base, followed closely by Bharti Airtel, Idea, Reliance and Tata Indicom under various segments, though BSNL is the market leader. Major telecom operators are now scaling their activities to increase their rural footprints in the state.

However, industry experts feel that to optimise growth in the state rural opportunities still needs to be tapped. According to Arvind Mohan, Economist at Lucknow University, the size of the rural market more popularly known as 'haats' in Uttar Pradesh is about Rs 5500 crores. "It's a huge market, yet to be grabbed," he informed.

According to Mohan, These markets are easy to focus and capture. The markets are quite underdeveloped and there is huge potential for deepening and widening of the markets.

He also stated that Rural markets within UP are large enough to bring transformation in the state. It also leaves enough space for entrepreneurship development and that it has large potential for substantially expanded exclusively rural oriented activity.

In Uttar Pradesh, majority of industry are Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Micro small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

According to estimates there are around 20 lakh MSMEs, which provide direct employment to about 80 lakh households and about five crore people.

"Small and medium industries are the backbone of social, economic and industrial development in the state. This sector provides maximum employment next to agriculture," informed D S Verma, Executive director, Indian Industry Association (IIA).

Tourism is another important industry gaining momentum at present. The Tourism Department has prepared a Tourism Development Policy under which tourist circuits are being developed. Buddhist Circuit, Bundelkhand Circuit, Water Cruise Circuit, Jain Shrines Circuit and Eco-Tourism Circuit are being worked upon to name a few.

Of late UP government has imbibed the role of working in partnership with the private industry. The new initiative in the form of Public Private Partnership (PPP) has been well accepted by the industry and the industry chambers.

According to industry experts it will not only decrease the completion time of the projects but will also help relive the exchequer of its burden.

The recent addition in this model is the Ganga Expressway project. The Rs.40,000 crore project is expected to lead generation of new opportunities in the state especially in the central and eastern UP.

The tender for the project was awarded to Jaypee Infratech Limited in January this year. The eight-lane expressway will connect Noida with Ballia.

Four other important link expressways; from Ghaziabad to Saharanpur-Mohaand, from Jhansi to Kanpur-Lucknow-Gorakhpur-Kushinagar, from Agra to Kanpur and from Bijnore to Moradabad-Fatehgarh, were also announced in the State budget last month.

While on the government side, giving a boost to revamp industry procedures the state government has made various budgetary allocations for the upcoming financial year.

Under the same, the UP government targets to generate opportunities for 39,600 persons by setting up 2,200 units under the Rural Industry Employment Generation Scheme.

The budget has also earmarked a sum of Rs 6347 for the construction, strengthening and maintenance of roads and bridges across the state. Special schemes and announcements have been made for the development of Bundelkhand region in the state.