After a slew of industrialists, including Mukesh Ambani, Kumara Mangalm Birla and Gautam Adani, announced their intention of investing crores in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi followed suit with a big ticket announcement from the Central government side.

Addressing the UP Investors Summit 2018 in Lucknow, he announced the creation of a defence industrial corridor in Bundelkhand which he said aligned with the promise made by the State Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to develop an expressway in the region.

Reminding the gathering about the Budget announcement of two defence industrial corridors, he said, “One of the two defence industrial corridors mentioned in the Budget will be in the Bundelkhand region of the State.”

He said it would generate an investment of ₹20,000 crore and create employment for 2.5 lakh people.

He said the corridor would link Agra, Aligarh, Jhansi and Chitrakoot belts opening up development in the State.

The Prime Minister also mentioned the civil aviation projects planned in the State and said that two international airports will come up in Jewar and Kushinagar. The two-day investor summit with the tagline of ‘Powering New India’, opened in the State capital on Wednesday drawing a flock of industrialists and foreign investors. It’s the first such summit organised during Yogi Adityanath’s rule and much is riding on it to draw investments to the State. As Prime Minister Modi said he was looking forward to a new Uttar Pradesh powering New India. The state capital Lucknow certainly looked dressed up and beautiful with a major facelift to all roads eliciting exclamations from both Mukesh Ambani and Anand Mahindra.

4Ps for new UP

Despite the ‘Bimaru’ tag and negative perceptions about the State, the Prime Minister pointed out that Uttar Pradesh had immense potential. He talked about the 4 Ps that would create a new Uttar Pradesh — “It requires policy, planning and performance to harness the potential and bring progress,” he said, adding that both Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the people of the State were ready to give a “super hit” performance.

The Prime Minister also talked about the potential of tourism in the State, especially the Kumbh mela.

He described how UNESCO had declared the Kumbh mela an intangible cultural heritage and urged the State to leverage it. “You must ensure that visitors from every single country in the world visit the Kumbh mela in 2019,” he said.

No more red tape in Uttar Pradesh, only red carpet, said the Prime Minister who also, during the event, activated a digital clearances platform for the State.

Henceforth, all clearances in Uttar Pradesh will be done online.

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