In order to boost investments in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to lay the foundation stones of industrial projects in the state this month.
The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stones of industrial projects worth nearly Rs 75,000 crore in UP later this month.
While the Yogi Adityanath government has fixed the tentative date for ‘groundbreaking’ ceremony in Lucknow for January 20, the final date will be fixed after confirmation by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
These projects, mostly related to IT and electronics sector, are part of the Rs 4.68 lakh crore worth Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) signed by the state government with public and private sector companies during the UP Investors’ Summit held in Lucknow on February 21-22, 2018.
UP Industrial Development Minister Satish Mahana said, “We are planning to lay the foundation stones of projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore this month and are waiting for PMO’s nod. In any case, we are confident that projects worth Rs 70,000 crore to Rs 75,000 crore would be launched at the groundbreaking ceremony.”
The first groundbreaking ceremony held on July 29, 2018 was also attended by Modi, who not only laid the foundation stones of 80 projects worth Rs 60,000 crore but also exhorted UP and Maharashtra to compete for emerging as the country’s first trillion-dollar economy.
Earlier in November, the Yogi government tried to organise the second foundation stone laying ceremony but owing to Assembly polls in five states and the whirlwind campaign tours of the Chief Minister, the event was postponed. Also, the preliminary groundwork was incomplete.
In November last year, the UP Industrial Development department had organised a roundtable with leading industrialists, whose projects were lined up for the next grand launch.
In fact, Yogi also had expressed unhappiness over the slow pace of follow-ups of these projects and directed officials to ensure that necessary work was completed in time, to ensure that projects worth Rs 50,000 crore could be launched before December, 2018 with another similar ceremony for projects totalling Rs 50,000 crore lined up for February 2019.
Modi is also scheduled to visit Agra on January 9 to kick-start the Bharatiya Janata Party’s 2019 Lok Sabha poll campaign. Yogi is expected to visit Agra on Saturday to review the preparations for the Prime Minister’s visit next week.
The twin visits of Modi to UP this month would provide a perfect footing to the ruling BJP to formally switch to electioneering mode by balancing its political and development planks.
Meanwhile, the Yogi government is also pushing its other mega infrastructure projects, including Bundelkhand Defence Corridor, Bundelkhand Expressway and Jewar international airport.
While, the defence corridor is expected to attract an investment of almost Rs 50,000 crore, the 289-km Bundelkhand Expressway is estimated to garner investments worth Rs 10,000 crore.