Chips to tourism: State marks out sectors for support and growth

Uttar Pradesh is on the track to become a $1 trillion economy by 2027-28 due to a host of factors, including increased spending on infrastructure, improved law and order, and better business environment.

- SANJEEB MUKHERJEE & VIRENDRA SINGH RAWAT

Awanish Kumar Awasthi, advisor to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, said, even as he called for "hard work" to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to the state and to tap the growing sectors of semiconductors, electronics and software exports.

Awasthi said employment and skilling are also among the focus areas where the state needs to do more work, and it is here the newly-launched scheme that promises an interest-free loan of ₹5 lakh for youths will come in handy.

He was speaking at a panel discussion on 'Environment Protection with Infrastructure and Tourism Development in Uttar Pradesh' at the recent Business Standard 'Samriddhi' round table held in Lucknow.

The retired bureaucrat said that CM Adityanath's dream is to make UP the most prosperous state of the country with its GSDP (gross state domestic product) ahead of Maharashtra or any other.

"Uttar Pradesh, with the country's largest number of international airports, highest number of expressways, highest number of four-lane highways, largest number of petrol pumps and CNG stations, has no reason to not achieve the target," Awasthi said.

He said the scale and speed in which development is being done in UP since 2017 is unseen.

Due to good financial management, revenue growth from GST (Goods and Services Tax), mining, manufacturing, excise and other sectors has risen 3-4 times since 2017 levels.

"We are now a revenue surplus state," Awasthi said, adding that everyone knows that capital expenditure is mandatory for building infrastructure and UP has invested no less than ₹150,000 crore in building world-class infrastructure in the state.

"All this has come from our own resources," Awasthi, a 1987-batch IAS officer, said.