UP: Top Investment Destination & Production Hub

Lucknow, Jul 9 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh has emerged as a key destination for investors, and its image has changed from a consumer state to a production state, Excise and Prohibition Minister Nitin Agrawal said on Wednesday.

"Earlier, Uttar Pradesh was called a consumer state, today that image has changed and the state is known as a production state," the minister said in his address at the Excise Investors Summit.

"For the first time, such a grand event is being organised in Uttar Pradesh. This has been made possible by the policies and leadership of the Uttar Pradesh government. Eight years ago, it could not even be imagined that the state could be liked by investors, but under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ji, the entire scenario has changed."

At present, UP has become an important destination for investors, he added.

Investors, industrial groups and startup representatives from India and abroad participated in the conference. Investment proposals worth about Rs 3,600 crore were received in this investor conference, the Excise department said.

Many other investors have also shown interest in it. The objective of this conference was to encourage investment in alcohol production, distribution, marketing-based industries and various related sectors in the state, to provide a smooth policy environment to the related industries and to provide policy-related information to the investors, the Excise Department said.

Agrawal said that in the past few years, through Invest UP, as many as 142 proposals were received for establishing alcohol-based industries in the state. Also, 135 memorandum of understanding (MoUs) were signed. In these 135 MoUs involved an investment of Rs 39,479.39 crore and creation of 73,524 employment opportunities.

Out of the 135 agreements, after purchase of land by 46 investors, the relevant documents were made available on the Invest UP portal in cases of those projects that are ready for ground-breaking ceremony (GBC), he said, adding an investment of Rs 7,888.73 crore is being made in these 46 GBC-ready projects.

Out of these 46 projects, 19 units are established and operational. An investment of Rs 2,339.6 crore has been made by them, and 2,316 persons have been employed. A total of 27 units are under establishment, he said.

He also said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is taking Uttar Pradesh to new heights and a USD 1 trillion economy is taking shape in UP, as a result of which changes are clearly visible on the ground.

In the light of ease of doing business, he assured the potential investors that the UP Government and the Excise Department are committed to providing a safe, transparent and beneficial environment to the investors.