Yogi looking to turn covid-19 crisis into opportunity for UP

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow, Aug 2, 2020

Amid the global economic and business tailspin induced by covid-19 pandemic, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has stressed on turning this adversity into a socioeconomic opportunity for the state.

Presiding over a meeting here on Friday, Yogi asked officials to explore industrial growth potential during the current crisis and take urgent steps to resolve all grievances, so that mass employment opportunities could be created.

He tasked key officials with impressing upon industrialists to invest in UP by harping upon the competitive edge of the state in the forms of trained manpower, expressways, good connectivity, infrastructure facilities and abundant natural resources.

The CM asked the concerned departments to evolve a mechanism for prompt redress of issues pertaining to investors.

Recently, the state has roped in consulting major PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) with a view to positioning UP among the major global supply chains in select category of products viz. ceramics, woven fabrics, suitcases, footwear etc.

The Yogi government is eyeing to attract global corporations looking to exit China following the covid-19 outbreak and the ongoing US-China trade war. Senior cabinet ministers have been regularly holding virtual parleys with industry bodies and government representatives of major countries, including USA, Japan, EU, South Korea, Thailand etc to apprise them of the various pro-industry steps and the availability of industrial land bank across the state.

Meanwhile, the CM instructed officials to develop industrial corridors on the barren swathes of land flanking the major expressway projects on priority.