Uttar Pradesh seeing quantum leap in investment, says IIDC Manoj Kumar Singh
Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner (IIDC) Manoj Kumar Singh and his team have worked hard to make the event a success. Umesh Raghuvanshi spoke to the IIDC about the big event and the challenges ahead.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform “bhoomi pujan” to bring an investment of ₹10.11 lakh crore to ground at the groundbreaking ceremony (GBC) being organised at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan (IGP) in Lucknow from February 19 to 21. This is going to be a quantum leap in terms of investment from ₹60,000 crore at the first groundbreaking ceremony held here on July 29, 2018 to ₹10.11 lakh crore now. The organisation of the event, however, has thrown greater challenges to the top bosses of the state government.
Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner (IIDC) Manoj Kumar Singh and his team have worked hard to make the event a success. Umesh Raghuvanshi spoke to the IIDC about the big event and the challenges ahead.
Edited excerpts
We are fully prepared and geared up for the event. Today, we have crossed the target of ₹10 lakh crore. We will now implement more than 14,000 projects involving investment of ₹10.11 lakh crore.
Which are the key investment sectors?
Projects with heavier investment come from non-renewable energy sector. These include solar and pump storage plants. The second big sector is information technology in terms of investment. We have good investment in the automobile sector too. Ashok Leyland is setting up a plant to manufacture electric vehicles at Lucknow. For the first time, the Hindujas are moving from south India to north India. This is a good achievement. Two to three more automobile companies, including Yamaha, are also there.
What about charging stations?
We also have electric charging stations. We have awarded setting up of 26 electric charging stations along the expressways. This work has been awarded to Adanis. A new model has come up for charging with the lowest rates.
Any other important projects?
We are going to have a film city in the national capital region in the state. After nearly three years, we have been able to finalise the film city project. This project will be exhibited at the exhibition being put up there. This is one of the most attractive investments we are having. In the first phase, a sum of ₹1,500 crore will be invested in the film city to come up in over 230 acres of land.
What else is there in the exhibition?
We are also having an exhibit on artificial intelligence in one of the main pavilions. We are getting a team from ETH Zurich University, Switzerland. This is the university where Albert Einstein studied. Their artificial intelligence centre is considered among the best in the world. We are going to have a memorandum of understanding with them. Gautam Buddha University Greater Noida will sign the MoU. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has provided a budget of ₹50 crore for the purpose of setting up Uttar Pradesh’s first AI centre. We will work with four to five companies in the field to set up the centre. These include Samsung, which has recently brought a mobile with the AI. Wadhwani AI and HCL are the other companies. The second exhibit is regarding the textiles sector. A centre of excellence is coming up at Ghaziabad.
Good work has been done in the field of data centres. This is our third important attraction. We will tell people about the total capacity in the country and what we have generated in the past seven years. We also have warehousing and logistics as another important sector. We have got very good investment in the sector.
What is the schedule for other two days?
The next day, we have three workshops. One of them focuses on the FDIs and the Fortune-500 companies. The state government has notified its policy for the FDIs and the Fortune-500 companies. Union minister Piyush Goyal will preside over this event. Another workshop is on AI. The exhibition is there from February 19 to 21.
Are you getting foreign investment too?
Yes, we are getting foreign investment though it is difficult to quantify the same at this stage. We brought out our policy very recently. But some foreign companies were already working in the state. We have issued two letters informing two companies about their eligibility. These include Fuji Silver Tech and Ashok Leyland. Four other applications are pending.
What about other participants?
We are inviting around 4,000 industrialists and investors. Twenty ambassadors have also been invited. Sixteen officers are expected from government of India.
Which region has the highest investment?
It’s west U.P. We are getting the MoUs implemented from all districts.
