Kamal Ghorui
In Uttar Pradesh, projects worth more than Rs 13 lakh crore have moved to the implementation stage out of total investment proposals of around Rs 40 lakh crore, as the state highlighted its industrial and investment push in a fresh government release.The state estimates that these grounded projects could generate over 80 lakh jobs. During the February 2024 Ground Breaking Ceremony (GBC) 4.0, projects worth Rs 10.11 lakh crore were launched.The state has focused on project execution alongside investment commitments, while also stressing digital governance measures aimed at improving ease of doing business.Among the key initiatives listed was the state’s single-window clearance portal, Nivesh Mitra, which currently offers more than 467 online services across 43 departments. The government also said its Nivesh Sarathi platform is being used to monitor investment proposals from the memorandum of understanding stage to operations. Moreover, 4,074 regulatory compliances or procedural burdens have been reduced.The state has also outlined the expansion of sector-specific industrial infrastructure. These include a PM-MITRA Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel Park across Lucknow and Hardoi, a Medical Device Park in Gautam Buddha Nagar, a Plastic Park in Gorakhpur and a Leather Park in Kanpur. It added that approvals have been granted for 11 toy parks in locations such as Greater Noida, Aligarh and Jhansi.On the MSME front, the government said Uttar Pradesh has over 96 lakh units, making it the largest MSME base in the country.It also pointed to the Mukhyamantri Yuva Swarozgar Yojana, under which financial support of up to Rs 25 lakh is offered to young entrepreneurs.The state further said that foreign direct investment received between 2017 and 2023 was nearly four times higher than the inflows recorded during 2000–2017. It added that the 2024 UP International Trade Show saw participation from more than 100 countries and generated business enquiries worth Rs 10,000 crore.
