Hyderabad: Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Wednesday invited the pharma companies in Telangana to invest and establish their units in the state, stating that UP is a favourable destination with a huge market and manpower. 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 UP, he stated.
In an exclusive interview with the Deccan Chronicle, Pathak, who is leading a group from his state on a road show in Hyderabad ahead of the UP Global Investors Summit in Lucknow from February 10 to 12, stated that UP offers various possibilities and opportunities to people from Telangana in that state.
“Telangana is a good state, with good people. And we are offering several opportunities to people from here in our state. We have come here with a lot of expectations and look forward to inviting the pharma sector to our state. We have a huge market and manpower. We expect a lot of interest and investments on this front,” he stated. The first half of the day, which saw a UP delegation meet with a slew of investors, yielded investment intentions totalling Rs 22,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh, he said.
Infrastructure, defence, and the pharma sectors are three of UP’s top investment areas, he explained. "We have the defence corridor, which includes Lucknow and Bundelkhand, and the state is already home for the Brahmos supersonic missile's manufacturing. For the pharma sector, we have separate projects and have identified corridors,” he explained.
Further, he said UP, the country's fifth-most populous state, has set a lofty goal for itself to expand to a $1 trillion economy as part of India's plans to grow from its current $3.5 trillion GDP to a $5 trillion economy. “Our contribution to the country’s GDP is 8%. We are working to achieve our chief minister Yogi Adityanath's goals and objectives, which include transforming our state into an economic powerhouse,” he said.
Pathak noted the state's burgeoning infrastructure as well as its investor-friendly policies supportive of businesses and industries as reasons why Uttar Pradesh is an ideal destination to invest.
Another driver is the fact that UP, with its 25 crore population, is the country's largest market and has the technical manpower and raw materials that investors from all sectors need, he asserted. “We have the longest network of roads, state, and national highways. We have nine airports and 17 more are coming up, including the largest in Asia at Jewar.”
