The once laid-back Uttar Pradesh is shedding its image where nothing works due to political interferences and rank corrupt bureaucracy. Well, it is fast emerging among India’s favourite investment destinations and swiftly implementing projects. When it comes to implementation or under the implementation of projects, it is only second to Maharashtra. In FY22, work on projects worth Rs 17.31 lakh crore were under implementation or in the final leg of performance in Maharashtra. And if we talk about Uttar Pradesh, according to data sourced from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy and CareEdge, it has emerged as No. 2 with Rs 9.79 lakh crore worth of projects under or in the final stage of implementation. At the same time, Odisha’s Rs 9.11 lakh crore and Gujarat’s Rs 8.95 crore emerged as No. 3 and 4 in the state league tables for the same year. There were Rs 8.73 lakh crore worth of projects under implementation in Andhra Pradesh — placing the state at No. 5 among states in FY22. In Uttar Pradesh, the proposals of investment worth ₹3 lakh crore were implemented in the past five years. That’s staggering.
It goes without saying that while states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have been attracting investment and implementing projects, the entry of Uttar Pradesh into this list is welcome and surprising. Surprising as Uttar Pradesh was, till a couple of years ago, hardly known for working overtime to woo investors and ensuring projects were being implemented on time. That’s a massive paradigm shift like Uttar Pradesh. Indeed with this kind of change, investors feel encouraged and happy that their project(s) are implemented on time. It gives confidence to all investors who are also planning to invest.
Naturally, the performance of Uttar Pradesh in implementing the projects is phenomenal. Imagine it is only behind Maharashtra and ahead of states like Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Karnataka in terms of implementation of projects. It would go a long way in attracting private investments from the corporate sector. It is critical to higher growth rates and economic development. More investment creates a multiplier effect in the economy by generating both direct and indirect employment, boosting consumption and fostering further development.
Well, the overall mood looks very upbeat across India. Most of the states in India are looking for investments and investors. Recently, we have seen Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana court global electronic majors, including representatives from Apple, Intel, Samsung and LG, as well as contractors and assemblers such as Foxconn and Jabil. Uttar Pradesh is promising more sops, ranging from concessional land to GST and capital and interest subsidy rebates. The state is going all out to woo prospective investors at a time when investment is needed to spur economic activity.
For India to grow, a healthy balance between cooperation and competition between the states is the need of the hour. The Prime Minister has called for ‘cooperative competitive federalism’ in his Independence Day Speech. The match between states in achieving higher economic growth and outshining each other on the parameters of development can only be a win-win situation for India.
Effective partnerships between the government and private sector in critical areas of infrastructure and long-term investments expedite development. As Uttar Pradesh is a vast state with a massive population, it requires investment from all quarters for overall growth. Well, this is true for all conditions. The Uttar Pradesh government has introduced various formats to attract private investments, especially in roads and highways, airports, industrial parks and higher education and skill development sectors.
Against this backdrop, Global Investors Summit (GIS) is scheduled to be held in Lucknow from 10-12 February. The state aims to attract investments worth a massive 10 lakh crores through the summit. One has to remember that any country or state makes a giant leap when the leadership works and acts like a politician. In this regard, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is going all out to woo the investors and called upon global and domestic industries to take advantage of the massive opportunities being provided by Uttar Pradesh and to participate in the project of making “New India” a prosperous and powerful country.
Post-economic liberalizations, thousands of youngsters have started their ventures and are doing well. Ravish Pipal is one such young guy from Agra. His father had a small factory of shoes in the city of the Taj Mahal. Ravish Pipal was in double mind to do a job or business post-college. Finally, he joined his family business and expanded it significantly. Says Pipal, “We were doing small business till I joined my father. I looked at overseas markets for our products rather than local markets. To my surprise, the overseas market was huge. I tapped it carefully and doing well.” According to him, this is a great time to start a business rather than doing a job as one can loan easily.
And if the Uttar Pradesh government has changed for the better, it is high time that the state’s youngsters think beyond doing a job. They should consider becoming an Entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is the propensity to take risks, plan, organize, streamline and manage a new business idea in a dynamic global marketplace. Entrepreneurship is marked by job creation rather than job seeking. Entrepreneurs are independent-minded, innovative people. Entrepreneurship might be difficult, but it is a rewarding journey.
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