Yogi govt will chip in with $ 1 tn in India\'s $5 tn target: Brajesh Pathak

HYDERABAD: Uttar Pradesh has set itself an ambitious target. Of becoming a $1 trillion economy as part of India’s plans to emerge as a $ 5 trillion economy from the $ 3.5 trillion economy it currently is at.

“And why not?” asked Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, leading a delegation from his state for a road show in Hyderabad in the run up to the UP Global Investors Summit in Lucknow from February 10 to 12.

“Uttar Pradesh has a fifth of India’s population. So it is natural that Uttar Pradesh is gearing up to contribute a fifth to the country’s target of $ 5 trillion economy. We are fulfilling our responsibility , under leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. And our contribution to the nation’s GDP is 8%,” Pathak told Deccan Chronicle on the sidelines of his meetings with businesspersons, and investors on Wednesday.

Pathak was accompanied for the event, by his cabinet colleagues Baby Rani Maurya the Minister for Women’s Welfare, Child Development and Nutrition, Arun Kumar Saxena the Minister of State (independent charge) for Forest and Environment and Climate Change and Zoological Gardens, and Dayashankar Mishra, the Minister of State (independent charge) for Ayush, Food Security and Drug Administration, and senior officials from the state.

On why Uttar Pradesh is an ideal investment destination, Pathak said the state has a burgeoning infrastructure suited for industries, and businesses. “We  have the longest network of roads, state and national highways together. We have nine airports, and 17 more are coming up including the largest in Asia at Jewar. The second is today, it is the rule of law that is supreme in Uttar Pradesh. Gone are the days of clashes and riots. For the Yogi Adityanath government, law and order is a priority area and I say this with confidence, anyone coming to our state, will not even feel a pin prick on this front,” Pathak said.

The third aspect, Pathak said, is that Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 25 crore, is the country’s largest market, and has the technical manpower, raw materials that investors cutting across sectors need. “These are among what makes our state an ideal investment destination,” he said.

For Uttar Pradesh, among its priority investment areas are infrastructure, defence, and pharma sectors. “We have the defence corridor with Lucknow and Bundelkhand in it and the state is already home for production of Brahmos supersonic missile. Opportunities are many in this sector for hardware manufacture and allied defence production industries. For the pharma sector, we have separate projects and have identified corridors,” he explained.

On what the Uttar Pradesh government expects from businesses in Telangana, Pathak said “Telangana is a good state, with good people. And we are offering more opportunities to people from here in our state. We have come here with a lot of expectations. We look forward to inviting the pharma sector to our state, we have a huge market, we have the manpower, and we expect a lot of interest and investments on this front.” The first half of the day, which saw a UP delegation meet with a slew of investors, yielded investment intents totalling Rs 22,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh, he said.