'Investments in UP spread across regions'

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, 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 1.58 trillion have been received for granting letters of comfort (LOC), of which 36 applications, with a proposed investment of roughly 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 ₹6,987 crore have been received for LoC, of which 12 applications, with a proposed investment of ₹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₹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 4,153 crore. Investments in the western and central regions amounted to 3,714 crore and 2,847 crore, respectively. Under the IT/ITES Policy 2022, companies like Samsung and HCLTech received incentives worth ₹212.63 crore, further supported by the Infrastructure & Industrial Investment Policy 2012, which awarded nine units a total of ₹935.51 crore.