Rolling out the red carpet to welcome NRIs and PIOs from UP in Agra, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said that the Pravasi Diwas will be an annual affair in the state and will be organised every year. The CM assured prompt clearances to the proposal of lulu group international of UAE to invest Rs 1,000 crores in lucknow for a shopping mall.
Terming the UP Pravasi Diwas as hugely successful, the CM said “Ab Unse Judne aur Unko Jodne kaa Maukaa hai (now it’s time to reconnect with the NRI). The turnout of the NRI was much larger than expected by us,’’said he on Monday while inaugurating the first ever UP Pravasi Diwas in the state.
“It’s time to reconnect with your roots. UP is a big state and without a foothold here, it’s difficult to grow in any field. UP is a huge market, lets join hands to grow together. The negative image of UP was a big barrier in its development and attracting investors. In the last four year, the SP government initiated ambitious infrastructure development projects which has significantly changed the perception and the situation at the ground level,’’ said the Chief minister.
Yadav said that besides the Agra –lucknow Expressway and lucknow Metro, all major Indian companies and many MNCs have invested in UP. Other than this, several power projects have been commissioned and many are in the pipeline which will enable the state government to fulfill its promise of 16 hour power supply in rural areas and 22-24 hours in urban areas.
``UP is the first state to celebrate the NRI day as it was organized by the Union government earlier. The success of UP Pravasi Diwas (UPPD) has demonstrated that people from the state formed a big chunk of the Indian diaspora abroad and they were willing to return to their roots given a congenial environment for business and investment.’’
Welcoming the investment proposal by lulu group international headed by Yusuf Ali MA, Akhilesh Yadav said `` UP government will grant all required clearances for the shopping mall project in lucknow within the shortest possible time. lulu group is also like to invest close to Rs 4,000 crore in hotel and real estate projects in the state’’.
Meanwhile the UP government signed 13 MOUs with the NRIs and their organisations on the first day of the UPPD. The first MOU was signed with the Global organization of people of Indian origin (GOPIO) to facilitate and extend all help to people from UP and jointly initiate and facilitate Pravasi meet.
The other MOU was signed by the Professor Rajesh Chandra Vice chancellor of South pacific university Fiji to promote cooperation in research and development in the field of information and communication technology. Sanjay Makkar, President Indi Canadian chamber of commerce Toronto singed the MOU to facilitate the transfer of technology and promote trade between Canada and UP.
India trade and exhibition center Sharjah signed the MOU to promote and facilitate trade between UP and the businesses located in Dubai. India business and professional council Dubai signed the MOU to promote cooperation in trade and investment between UP and the business located in UAE.
Sanjeev malik, the president of Uttar Pradeshies in Canada singed the MOU to extend help to people from UP tom obtain jobs and avail of the educational facilities in Canada. NADEEM Akhtar Tarin President of Nadeem Tarin educational society (NTES) signed the MOU with the UP government to work for dissemination of information for the benefit of the NRIs from UP.
Sanjay Melhotra, president of India association of Japan signed the MOU for promoting trade and investment between UP and Japan. UP Association of North America singed the MOP to facilitate and extend help to the people from UP in USA. Two se3parate MOUs were also signed by the two private banks ICICI and HDFC to provide efficient financial services like fund transfer to the people from UP settled abroad.