UP poised to get Rs 200,000 cr by 2010: Assocham

Uttar Pradesh is poised to attract additional investment worth Rs 2 lakh crore and create jobs for its 2.5 million youth by 2010 in about a dozen areas.

The prospective, key sectors include food processing (agro-based industries), heavy engineering, petrochemicals, real estate, retail, and expressways, besides, IT, textiles (cotton yarn & silk) and sugar.

This is according to a study brought out by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) called "Uttar Pradesh: The Rainbow of Opportunities". Assocham President Venugopal N Dhoot released the study in Lucknow today.

"The study has been submitted to Chief Minister Mayawati. Our chamber supports affirmative action and is in favour of imparting skills and training to candidates belonging to minorities, scheduled castes/scheduled tribes and other backward classes," Dhoot said.

The chamber says the present industrial policy of the state needs modification.

"The chamber has constituted a special group to focus on potential areas in the state to attract investment. The group will prepare a list of 20 cities (not including Noida and Ghaziabad, which the chamber feels are saturated enough for investments) appropriate for public-private partnerships in sectors like bio-technology and IT to assist the state government in formulating a new policy," Dhoot said.

The study says the growth rate for manufacturing and agriculture should be 10.5 per cent and 4 per cent per annum, respectively, because the state has 17 per cent of country's population but only 11.8 per cent of arable land. To achieve these targets, an investment of Rs 50,000 crore would be required every year to attain and sustain the targets.

"The growth rate for agriculture and allied services should be targeted at 4 per cent and to achieve this, the government should form the Uttar Pradesh Agriculture Development Council (UPADC)," Dhoot said.

Meanwhile, the Videocon group is interested in investing about Rs 5,000 crore in the state.

"We have identified land between Varanasi and Mirzapur for our proposed thermal power plant. With a capacity of 1,000 Mw, it will see an investment of about Rs 4,000 crores," group Chairman Venugopal N Dhoot told Business Standard.

"We want to identify inner towns in the state. We may set up a photovoltaic (PV) factory somewhere in Varanasi in future. It is a high technology factory involving about Rs. 1000 crore investment." informed Dhoot.

The company is also planning a solar park in the state, in which outsiders could also invest.