The launching of 1406 projects with a total investment of Rs 80,224 crore in Uttar Pradesh at the Ground Breaking Ceremony 3, also includes an indication of the rapid rise of eastern UP, commonly known as the Purvanchal region, as an industry-friendly region.
This part of UP had been dubbed as backward for decades and also suffered from poor connectivity, among other issues. But in the last 5 years, several big infrastructure projects have been launched and completed, giving an impetus to further industrial investment.
The initiative was specifically driven by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s vision for this region, and after he took over as Chief Minister in his first term in 2017, he held a series of brain-storming meetings with experts and officials to develop a long-term strategy for the transformation of this region.
As the GBC-3 indicates, by investment size, the largest share of total investments at 73% has gone to western UP. But there has been a steady increase in investments drawn by eastern UP. Purvanchal's share in the total investment now stands at 12%, followed by central UP at 11% and Bundelkhand at 4%.
The region-wise break-up of investments shows the number of projects in western up at 865, with a total investment of Rs 58,671 crore. It is followed by Purvanchal with 290 projects worth Rs 9617 crore, central UP with 217 projects worth Rs 8997 crore, and Bundelkhand having 34 projects worth Rs 2938 crores.
While the completion of the Lucknow-Ghazipur Expressway and the launching of revived fertiliser factory in Gorakhpur were among the factors that accelerated investments into Purvanchal, the completion of Bundelkhand Expressway in Bundelkhand region, followed by launching of projects in the Defence Industrial Corridor, will lead to an exponential industrial growth in Bundelkhand region.
Remarkably, on the initiative of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, investment proposals worth Rs 4,68,800 were received in the Investors Summit in 2018, indicating a heightened interest in Uttar Pradesh as an investment destination.
The state has the highest number of MSME units at 90 lakh, which is about 14.2 percent of the total such units in the country. In GBC III, projects worth Rs 4459 crores of MSMEs are being set up in the state.