UP will become the ‘growth engine’ of India: Yogi Adityanath

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday called upon the country’s banking and financial world to become partners in the development of the country’s most populous state — Uttar Pradesh. The Chief Minister met a number of banking giants as part of his two-day visit to Mumbai with the goal of making Uttar Pradesh, the ‘growth engine’ of new India and set for itself the goal of becoming a $1 trillion economy. “The Prime Minister has termed Uttar Pradesh as a state with the potential of ‘growth engine’ of the country. We are ready to fulfil this responsibility of ours. With your cooperation, Uttar Pradesh will be a leading state in every sphere,” he said at the event.

The CM also highlighted the hurdles in the path of making UP a revenue surplus state. “When our government was formed in 2017, the financial condition of the state was extremely poor. We made some plans and called up the banks, but the credit was so poor that the banks didn’t respond. Today, I am delighted to inform you that everything has changed in UP. Today, we are a revenue surplus state. We’ve more than doubled our annual budget,” said Yogi Adityanath.

To fulfil the Prime Minister’s dream of making India a $5 trillion economy, Uttar Pradesh has set a target of $1 trillion for itself, said the CM. He invited the bankers to make this goal possible. ” We have been able to increase the CD ratio from 40 to 53%, now banks will have to make concerted efforts to bring it up to 60%. We look forward to making any contribution from our side,” he told the banking community.

The Chief Minister also spoke at length about the tremendous infrastructural progress made by the state over the last five to six years. “Within the last 05-06 years, the Government of Uttar Pradesh is developing infrastructure at a rapid pace for better connectivity through air, water, road and rail network, which will help industries to access global and domestic markets”, said the CM.

Uttar Pradesh has always been a difficult to manage state because of its vast expanse. Uniform development has been one of the major roadblocks. But with better infrastructure and transport facilities, even the remotest and less developed parts are getting equal attention, highlighted the CM.  “Today there is Purvanchal Expressway for Eastern UP, while the Bundelkhand Expressway is accelerating the progress of the Bundelkhand region, which was once considered backward. To connect the eastern and western regions, we are building the Ganga Expressway from Prayagraj to Meerut. Today, Uttar Pradesh has the unique distinction of being the ‘Expressway State’ with world-class road connectivity,” he added.

Further, Uttar Pradesh is going to become the only state in the country with five international airports. The land-locked state now has the country’s first inland waterway. He hailed the banking community for providing help for the quick infra development in the state. “This work of development and transformation would not have been possible without the cooperation of banks/financial institutions. As a result of your cooperation, today, the state has been transformed,” he said.

Talking about the rich human resource available in the state, he said, “Uttar Pradesh is the fourth largest state in India by size. Along with being the state with the largest population, we are also the state having the maximum youth population. Youth is our strength. The fertile land here is an important source of prosperity for our state.”

Post lockdown when several migrant labourers and workers from the state returned home, they were rehabilitated within the state with skill mapping. “Taking inspiration from the Prime Minister, we also mapped the traditional enterprises of the state and made programs accordingly, so today over 96 lakh MSME units are working, which have become the medium of employment for crores of youth. ‘One District One Product’ which is our innovative scheme, is giving a unique identity to the products of each district and we are doing its branding and marketing. This scheme is proving helpful in increasing our exports,” he said.

He further highlighted the effective management of Covid. “Our management policy for Covid has been appreciated by many global organizations including the World Health Organisation. Despite all the challenges, today, Uttar Pradesh is moving ahead with its big goals as a power and revenue surplus state,” he said.

Apprising the audience of future projects he said, “We are working on several industrial projects in the state. One of the two Defence Industrial Corridors being established with the aim of making India self-sufficient in the field of defence production is being developed in Uttar Pradesh.” He also spoke about the Jewar Airport that will be the largest airport in Asia. “You must have heard about the Bhatta-Parsaul incident. There was so much dispute over land! Today, the same farmers are voluntarily giving us land for the airport,” he said.

Seeking cooperation from banks, Yogi Adityanath said, “I have come to tell all of you today that we will offer all possible help to you in Uttar Pradesh. We will give resources from everywhere and give a better environment. Banking institutions should cooperate with us to strengthen our MSME units, agriculture, FPOs, startups etc.”