'Employment, women safety UP's growth mantra'

The Uttar Pradesh (UP) government's mantra for growth is that every person should get employment, and every woman should have a safe work environment, said Awanish Kumar Awasthi, advisor to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Speaking at Business Standard 'Samriddhi' roundtable held in Lucknow on Wednesday, Awasthi said that budgetary incentives should be provided to spur industrial growth instead of distributing freebies.

Awasthi was speaking at a panel discussion titled 'Environment protection with infrastructure and tourism development' in UP.

Awasthi highlighted that the state was playing a vital role in achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of making India a $5 trillion economy in the next few years.

Coming to tourism, he said more tourists were travelling to UP due to the appeal of Varanasi, Ayodhya, and Mathura—and the tourist count was more than temple city of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.

UP was welcoming up to 200,000 tourists daily, he said, while millions of people are expected to come to the Kumbh Mela in January 2025.