People in Uttar Pradesh were ready to give lakhs in bribes to get a job as a clerk or even a sweeper but would not use the same money to open a paan or sweet shop, said Urban Development and Energy Minister in the Yogi Adityanath administration AK Sharma, in Ahmedabad.
Marketing itself as the “largest consumer and cheapest labour market” in India, the UP government delegation led by Sharma, invited entrepreneurs from the state for the UP Global Investors Summit.
He was accompanied by Cabinet Minister Jitin Prasada, Minister of State Jayendra Pratap Singh Rathore and Advisors to Chief Minister Avanish Awasthi, GN Singh and other senior officials of the UP government.
Pointing out how Gujarat faced drought, cyclone and an earthquake at the beginning of the 2000s, he said, “Today, Uttar Pradesh is at the same stage, where Gujarat took off under Narendra Modi in 2001. The opportunity (to invest) should not be lost,” Sharma added.
Trying to reconnect with the investors from Gujarat, he said, “I personally know 50 percent of you all present here. I cannot forget the love and respect that I received from people and the leadership of Gujarat. Whatever I have got in my life, a large part of it is from Gujarat,” he said. He also thanked firms such as Zydus, Torrent and Reliance for helping UP to counter the Covid-19 pandemic.
As many as 22 investors from Ahmedabad signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) amounting to Rs 40,000 crore during the meetings and roadshows organised at a hotel Friday.
While pharmaceutical firm Torrent Pharma signed the largest MoU—for Rs 25,000 crore, Amul India signed an MoU of Rs 900 crore to set up a new milk plant in UP’s Baghpat. Nine MoUs were of Rs 1,000 crore or more.
UP received investments in sectors such as milk processing units, dairy farm, research and development lab, training of herdsman, renewable energy, solar city, pharma park and green hydrogen, among others.
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