UP hedging sugar sector with rural based ‘khandsari’ plants

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Nov 30, 2020

Amid the sugar sector volatility resulting in market price fluctuations and farmers’ arrears, the Uttar Pradesh government has liberalised the licensing regime of rural based ‘khandsari’ plants.

This is aimed at not only promoting local entrepreneurship, but also diverting the excess sugarcane harvest to the state khansari segment during bumper seasons of the cash crop.

Khandsari is basically unrefined/raw sugar derived from thickened sugarcane syrup. It has higher molasses content and is considered healthier than the refined and chemically treated white sugar. It is widely used as a sweetener agent for making sweets and in other food items in the rural hinterland.

According to UP sugarcane commissioner, Sanjay Bhoosreddy, the government had issued 240 new licenses to khandsari units with collective capacity of 5,865 tonnes crushed per day (TCD) of sugarcane. 

The operation of 240 khandsari units will provide about 42,000 direct and indirect employment along with a capital investment of Rs 1,100 crore in the rural areas.

These khandsari plants will add crushing capacity equivalent to 11 sugar mills. They will generate new employment opportunities and additional income in rural areas which will further strengthen the rural economy.

For getting a new license, an online application could be submitted over portal www.upkhandsari.in. The competent authority will take a decision on an online application within 100 hours of submission.

During the last crushing season 2019-20, 56 new khandsari units were operated and so far 117 new units were operational in the current crushing season 2020-21. While 11 licenses were issued by the department through the offline mode, 229 new licenses were generated online.

At one point, there were almost 5,000 khandsari units operating in the countryside of UP, however, their numbers dwindled considerably down the line with 161 of the total 1,078 licensed khandsari plants operational in the 2017-18 crushing season.

Eyeing $trillion economy tag, UP announces Export Policy 2020

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow, 27 Nov

To accelerate the pace of industrial development and socioeconomic growth, the Uttar Pradesh government has announced a new Export Policy 2020 for the state, which is aspiring to become a US$ trillion economy in the near future.

Under the policy, the state would promote special economic clusters in each of the 75 districts and espouse ‘Make in UP’ and ‘Make in India’ vision.

Besides, it has identified focus sectors, which would be promoted on priority to realise its target viz. handicraft, agriculture, food processing, defence manufacturing, engineering goods, handloom and textile, leather products, carpets, glass and ceramic products, wood works, education, tourism, medical supplies, logistics, IT etc.

The state cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Yogi Adityanath here recently put its seal of approval to the new UP Export Policy 2020.

One of the primary objectives of the policy is to support the export enabling organisations, create technical and physical infrastructure, capacity building of export oriented units, facilitating national and global market reach of state units etc.

It would also simplify export related procedures and incentive top performing units in different sectors.

Further, the new policy is aimed at supplementing the ambitious target of doubling the income of the state farmers by promoting agriculture and allied activities, boosting farm exports, providing export incentives etc.

Meanwhile, the state is planning to float a global bidding process for hiring a consultant for preparing a roadmap of the $trillion dollar economy vision.

The UP government is targetting to augment its micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) exports in the next three years to touch the Rs 3 trillion mark. During the 2018-19 and 2019-20 financial years, the UP MSME exports were to the tune of Rs 1.14 trillion and Rs 1.20 trillion respectively.

In the backdrop of big companies looking to exit China following the Covid-19 outbreak and the US-China trade war, the Adityanath government has rolled out a process of rationalising its various investment and export promotion policies to attract top corporations.

At the same time, the Yogi government is keen on cashing in on the quantum leap of 10 places by UP from 12th to 2nd position in the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ rankings announced by the Centre.

The government is mulling to commission a study of industrialised states viz. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat to cut the per unit production cost of industry for increasing their competitiveness.

SBI Capital Markets picked as financial advisor for Ganga Expressway

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Nov 26, 2020

The Uttar Pradesh government has appointed SBI Capital Markets Limited for offering financial advisory services to its flagship Rs 36,402 crore Ganga Express project.

Besides, the state cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Yogi Adityanath approved the proposal of raising funds for the mega 600 km project through the foreign direct investment (FDI) route while also giving the in principle clearance to the project.

The government has also cleared the bidding document and decided to invite expression of interest (EoI) from investors to develop the project under the public private partnership (PPP) model.

However, if the nodal agency UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) faces hurdles in developing it under the PPP mode, the government would then weigh other options.

The funds for the project would also be made available through budgetary allocation of the revenue generated from the monetisation of the Agra-Lucknow Expressway. So far, the government had allocated Rs 1,855 crore for the project, besides Rs 2,900 crore will be raised from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO).

Ganga Expressway will provide a seamless and faster travel alongside river Ganga from Haridwar to Varanasi via Prayagraj (Allahabad), thus boosting the socioeconomic development across the state and creating jobs.

Besides, the expressway will offer connectivity linkage to the Haldia-Varanasi inland waterway transport to-and-fro Delhi and other states.

Meanwhile, the state government is planning to acquire 7,800 hectares of land costing Rs 9,255 crore for Ganga Expressway. The land will be acquired by UPEIDA across 529 villages spanning 12 districts viz. Meerut, Amroha, Bulandshahar, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Kannauj, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratagarh and Prayagraj districts.

In recent months, the Adityanath government has tapped public sector banks to raise funds for the ongoing and proposed expressway projects, including Ganga Expressway, Purvanchal Expressway, Bundelkhand Expressway and Gorakhpur Link Expressway.

It will also provide emergency landing facility for Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft near Shahjahanpur district. The 6-lane expressway, expandable to 8-lane if needed, will be built in 12 separate packages to facilitate speedier completion.

UP recruits 58,000 women banking correspondents

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Nov 24, 2020

The Uttar Pradesh government has recruited 58,000 women banking correspondents (BC) to provide basic banking services in the hinterland of the state.

BCs are authorised representatives of a bank and are supposed to provide basic financial services like cash deposit and withdrawal to the people. They normally carry a mobile device or micro ATM for cash transaction, money transfer, account opening etc with the help of swiping the debit card or by fingerprint scanning.

Meanwhile, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has directed officials to facilitate proper training to the selected BC ‘Sakhi’ personnel for subsequent deployment in the work arena.

He stressed that the scheme would provide employment to a woman candidate at the village panchayat level. They will operate from the respective village panchayat precincts.

World’s oldest consultancy Arthur D Little forays in Lucknow

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Nov 22, 2020

The world’s oldest management consulting firm, Arthur D Little has set up an office in Lucknow, its third in India after Delhi and Mumbai.

The company will facilitate investment across key sectors in Uttar Pradesh by leveraging its global connect and network, Arthur D Little India and South Asia, managing partner and CEO, Barnik Chitran Maitra said here.

The firm has a robust presence in the Gulf, South East Asia and Europe, wherein it is engaged in enabling investment realisation and creating jobs through multi-sectoral expertise.

He claimed UP possessed unlimited potential and unexplored possibilities in varied sectors, such as agriculture, tourism, infra, food processing, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), defence manufacturing etc.

The company has also bid for selection as the consultants for the Yogi Adityanath government’s ambitious vision of making UP a US$ trillion economy in coming years.

It plans to collaborate with the state government and the private sector to boost economic activity and job creation in UP.

UP fast-tracks logistics, transport projects in NCR

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Nov 19, 2020

Within a few weeks of signing the concession agreement with Zurich Airport International (ZAI) to develop greenfield Jewar international airport in Greater Noida, the Uttar Pradesh government is fast-tracking logistics and transport projects in the National Capital Region (NCR).

These comprise multimodal logistics hub (MMLH) and multimodal transport hub (MMTH), which constitute the early bird projects of the Dadri-Noida-Ghaziabad Investment Region (DNGIR) in UP.

The multimodal projects will support the proposed Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) in achieving its target of providing an integrated logistic facility for efficient storage/transitioning of goods to/from the UP sub-region of NCR.

UP chief secretary R K Tiwari has directed officials to accelerate the pace of land acquisition for big infra projects in the state, including MMLH, MMTH and Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).

Of the total land requirement of about 479 hectares for MMLH and MMTH, the state has so far taken possession of 365 hectares or more than 75 per cent of the required swathes. The remaining chunk of 114 hectares would be acquired by the Railways and the Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida) district authorities.

Earlier, the state government had transferred 747 acres to the DMIC for the ongoing projects.

The Yogi Adityanath government is counting on these mega infra projects to put UP in the league of major industrialised and exporting regions in India, especially in the backdrop of the state targetting to become the country’s first $1 trillion economy in the coming years.

Together with the operational and under-construction expressway projects in UP viz. Purvanchal Expressway, Bundelkhand Expressway, Gorakhpur Link Expressway, Yamuna Expressway, Agra-Lucknow Expressway and Ganga Expressway, the Jewar international airport and the logics/transport hubs are expected to provide an integrated channel for faster movement of agricultural and industrial products, thus boosting the state’s economy.

Meanwhile, the government has also set up district level export promotion panels in all the 75 districts and they are mandated to prepare their respective action plans for implementation. A third of these action plans have already been approved, while the remaining drafts are likely to be cleared by the end of this month, Tiwari informed.

The state government has also signed agreements with top e-market places, including Amazon and Ebay to provide a digital platform to the state entrepreneurs under the flagship one district, one product (ODOP) scheme.

UP government to organise ‘loan melas’ to push credit growth

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Nov 18, 2020

To support the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) facing the working capital squeeze amid the pandemic, the Uttar Pradesh government will organise ‘loan melas’ in all the 75 districts to boost the credit offtake.

UP is looking to augment MSME exports in the next three years to hit the Rs 3 trillion mark. During 2018-19 and 2019-20 fiscal years, the  state MSME exports stood at Rs 1.14 trillion and Rs 1.20 trillion respectively.

The government aims at providing easy and spot loans to the beneficiaries under various state and central schemes. The ‘loan melas’ will be organised at all the branches of the different commercial banks operating in the state.

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath recently instructed officials to coordinate with the commercial banks, so that all the branches could be covered under the ambitious plan. Besides, he has stressed providing business loans to a women entrepreneur and an SC/ST entrepreneur at each of the 18,000 bank branches in the state. This way, the state is targetting to benefit about 36,000 women and SC/ST entrepreneurs with the proposed ‘loan mela’ events.

Following the covid-19 lockdown, the Yogi government has been taking a series of measures to provide succour to the state business entities facing the pandemic headwinds in the form of credit squeeze, loss of market, closure, flight of labour etc.

During lockdown period, the state claimed to have facilitated working capital loans to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore to a million MSMEs. The beneficiaries included nearly 437,000 existing and 624,000 new units across different industry segments, which were infused with bank loans of Rs 10,847 crore and Rs 18,330 crore respectively under different schemes.

Besides, the state has claimed that two million jobs were created by way of the fresh credit infusion of Rs 30,000 crore to the MSME sector. The government is aiming to provide institutional credit to two million MSME units in the current 2020-21 financial year and to generate 8 million employment opportunities by expanding the credit net to the sector.

Additionally, the government has facilitated loans totalling Rs 15,000 crore to the MSMEs under its one district, one product (ODOP) scheme over the past three years, benefitting over 3,000 enterprises/self help groups.

India’s sugar production hits 1.4 million tonnes

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Nov 17, 2020

Aided by an early start of the current sugarcane crushing season, India’s sugar production has breached the 1.4 million tonnes (MT) mark, which is almost 0.5 MT higher than the comparative figure last year.

As against 127 sugar factories, which were crushing cane till mid November 2019, 274 sugar mills pan India were operational in the corresponding period this year.

In Uttar Pradesh, the country’s top sugar producer, 76 sugar mills have started crushing operations for the season, and produced 385,000 tonnes of the sweetener. Last year in the same period, 78 mills were in operation and had produced 293,000 tonnes till November 15, 2019.

Unlike last year, owing to good rainfall and sufficient water in reservoirs in Maharashtra and Karnataka, as also better cane availability due to higher acreage and improved yield, the crushing season commenced early during the last week of October’ 2020.

Meanwhile, the policy decisions regarding the export policy along with export subsidy for the current sugar year 2020-21 and creation of buffer stock along with buffer subsidy are still awaited from the central government, according to Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA).

UP industrial sector stages recovery in Aug 2020

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow, 14 Nov

Uttar Pradesh industrial output staged recovery in August 2020 after several months of subdued growth due to the lockdown restrictions negatively impacting the economic activities.

The general index of August 2020 with base year 2011-12 (=100) stood at 112.69, which is only 0.93 per cent lower compared to UP’s August 2019’s industrial index of 113.75.

Interestingly, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) of India contracted by a much higher margin of 8 per cent in August 2020 due to lower output in the main sectors of manufacturing, mining and power generation.

The robust industrial performance of UP was primarily aided by the manufacturing sector, whose sectoral index in August 2020 stood at 113.39 vis-à-vis 111.22 in the corresponding month of last financial year 2019-20.

According to the Economics and Statistical Division of the UP Planning Institute, which has now 

released the Quick Estimates of IIP, the improvement in activities of industrial units had begun with the gradual relaxation of restrictions, and the same was getting reflected in improved performance of the index.

The state’s respective indices of mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors for August 2020 stood at 91.08, 113.39 and 140.49 compared to the corresponding figure of 113.89, 111.22 and 142.02 last fiscal.

The ‘Quick Estimates’ are based on the methodology of Central Statistical Office, Government of India, and arrived at on the basis of the data provided by various factories and departmental head offices.

Meanwhile, the indices for primary goods, capital goods, intermediate goods and infra/construction goods notched up 109.04, 244.89, 133.77 and 95.90 respectively for August 2020. Similarly, the respective indices for consumer durable and consumer non-durable goods stood at 81.94 and 86.75.

Of the 23 industrial categories, which were analysed for determining the state’s industrial output index, 8 manufacturing sectors showed positive growth in August 2020, namely apparels, leather/leather goods, chemicals/medicines, rubber/plastics, machinery, electrical appliances, furniture segments etc.

In fact, UP had also clocked 6.74 per cent growth in revenue collection in August 2020 compared to the corresponding month last financial year. Compared to the revenue kitty of about Rs 8,942 crore in August 2019, the collection in August 2020 breached the level of Rs 9,545 crore, nearly Rs 600 crore higher.

After sluggish revenue collection in the initial lockdown months, particularly April and May 2020, the state earnings have been witnessing improvement with the revenue collection in July 2020, at Rs 10,675 crore, reaching nearly 97 per cent of July 2019, when the mop up had stood at about Rs 10,926 crore.

Besides, the Yogi Adityanath government is in the process of recalibrating the revenue targets for the current financial year. Despite the lockdown impact, the state is aiming to touch last financial year’s revenue levels, although the targets set for 2020-21 were 10-15 per cent higher.

UP bypolls victory bring early Diwali cheer for Yogi

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Nov 11, 2020

The assembly bypolls victory of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates yesterday on six of the seven Uttar Pradesh constituencies has brought an early Diwali cheer to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who was facing the double whammy of anti-incumbency and reverse labour migration crisis.

The seven UP assembly seats, which witnessed bypolls on November 3, were Naugawan Sadat (Amroha district), Tundla (Ferozabad), Bangarmau (Unnao), Bulandshahr, Deoria, Ghatampur (Kanpur Dehat) and Malhani (Jaunpur).

The BJP was up against a fragmented opposition viz. Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP). While, the saffron outfit won six seats, principal opposition SP retained its traditional Malhani constituency.

The thumping win of the BJP candidates has reasserted the authority of Yogi in the state unit of the party and silenced his detractors questioning his style of functioning.

Even as the bypoll win indicate the success of the BJP poll and organisational management ahead of the crucial 2022 UP elections, the Congress, which was expecting to put up a better show under party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra not only drew a blank but it also exposed the lack of cadre mobilisation at the grassroots.

Boeing vendor Dynamatic, IIT Kanpur to develop 'desi' UAVs

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Nov 11, 2020

Dynamatic Technologies Limited, an Indian supplier of engineering products to global aviation majors including Boeing, Airbus, Bell etc, and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur will jointly develop innovative unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for wide range of applications by the Indian defence forces.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was recently signed between the two organisations. Dynamatic Technologies is involved in R&D of latest technologies in the fields of aerospace, agriculture, hydraulics and homeland security.

IIT Kanpur has been conducting cutting edge research in various domains related to defense and homeland security, and have already developed several technologies and filed multiple patents in areas related to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV).

The Institute was looking for an industry partner with manufacturing capabilities for commercial production under the flagship ‘Atmanirbharta Bharat’ vision. As such, the partner organisations have identified mutual interest to leverage respective capabilities and undertake design, development, manufacturing of wide range of UAVs and other related technologies.

According to the Institute, the jointly developed products would substitute the currently imported UAVs with superior indigenous technology that would enable self-reliance at a reduced cost.

IIT Kanpur director Prof Abhay Karandikar termed the collaboration as an important development to “support the ongoing R&D activities at IIT Kanpur in the domain of UAVs and enable rapid commercialisation of existing solutions for greater good of users ranging from police, para-military and defence forces.”

He said the aerospace department of IIT Kanpur was one of the best in the country and has been doing some exciting work in this domain which would now come to fruition through this partnership. 

“This partnership is unique as it brings academia and industry together to develop new products specific to customer requirement. This collaboration will fast track concept to development using the state-of-the-art facilities and resources available across IIT Kanpur and Dynamatic,” Dr. Udayant Malhoutra , MD & CEO , Dynamatic Technologies noted.

Dynamatic Technologies manufactures highly engineered products and solutions. It has manufacturing facilities in India, the UK, Germany and USA, and is in the global supply chain of leading OEMs in these sectors. It has three design laboratories in India and Europe and is a leading Private R&D organisation with numerous inventions and patents to its credit.

UP farmers demand 25% hike in sugarcane price

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Nov 10, 2020

Citing steep increase in farm input costs, the sugarcane farmers in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s top sugar producer, have demanded more than 25 per cent hike in cane price for the current crushing season 2020-21.

Last year, the government had kept the UP cane price, State Advised Price (SAP) unchanged at Rs 315 per quintal (100 kg) for the common variety of the cash crop. The prices for the early and rejected varieties of cane were held at Rs 325 and Rs 305 per quintal respectively.

With the crushing underway, the state has begun the process of fixing the price for the season. The committee headed by UP additional chief secretary, sugarcane, held a meeting with the representatives of farmers, sugar industry and experts, wherein the growers demanded the state government to increase the cane price to Rs 400 per quintal.

Interestingly, the Yogi Adityanath government has not increased the SAP since 2018-19 in view of the market glut and the fall in the domestic and international sugar prices.

In August 2020, the Centre had fixed the cane Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for 2020-21 at Rs 285 per quintal at a recovery of 10 per cent.

FRP is the minimum cane price to be paid by the sugar mills for the procurement of the crop. However, some states fix a higher floor price for sugarcane to incentivise their growers. This way, the price of Rs 400 per quintal demanded by UP farmers is more than 40 per cent marked to the FRP.

Meanwhile, the UP Sugar Mills Association (UPSMA) and the Bajaj Group have expressed their inability to pay at higher level than the current price owing to purported difficult market conditions, including low sugar selling price ceiling of Rs 31.50 per kg, projected sugar market glut etc.

The UPSMA has submitted a memorandum to the government urging the state not to effect any hike in the cane price, allowing the millers to repay farmers in three installments and facilitating early settlement of the electricity cogeneration dues.

Now, the committee will submit its report to the panel headed by the state chief secretary, which will, after due deliberations, later give its recommendation to the state cabinet.

So far, more than 50 of the total 119 UP sugar mills had started their crushing operations.

UP accounts for 40 per cent of the country’s sugar output, and the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) has projected the state’s sugar production to exceed 12.45 million tonnes (MT) in the current season, compared to 12.63 MT in 2019-20 season.

UP’s sugarcane economy is pegged at Rs 50,000 crore, comprising sugar, molasses, ethanol, power cogeneration etc. UP private sector millers, numbering 94, collectively owe farmers’ outstanding of about Rs 6,000 crore for the previous 2019-20 season.

Canara Bank sanctions Rs 500 crore loan for Bundelkhand Expressway

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Nov 9, 2020

Public sector Canara Bank has sanctioned a loan of Rs 500 crore for the 296 km Bundelkhand Expressway, which is one of the flagship infra projects of the Uttar Pradesh government.

So far, the state infra arm UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) has raised Rs 6,400 crore from a consortium of banks for the project, which is estimated to cost Rs 15,000 crore.

According to UPEIDA CEO and UP additional chief secretary Awanish Kumar Awasthi, nearly 22 per cent of the civil works had been completed in the mega project.

Last year, the state had awarded six packages of the Expressway to successful bidders viz. Apco Infratech, Ashoka Buildcon, Gawar Construction and Dilip Buildcon. It will link Chitrakoot, Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Auraiya and Etawah districts. 

With the fresh sanction of the Rs 500 crore loan, the consortium now comprises Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Bank, Bank of India, Uco Bank and Canara Bank.

The project will connect arid Bundelkhand region with the national capital region (NCR) via Agra-Lucknow and Yamuna expressways. The project would commence at Bharatkoop near Jhansi-Allahabad National Highway (NH) 35 in Chitrakoot district and terminate at village Kudrail, Etawah on Agra-Lucknow Expressway.

“The project will not only boost the socioeconomic development in the region, but also create a large number of local jobs for the youth,” he said while lauding the support of the banks in providing ready funding for the Expressway even during the pandemic times.

So far, the state has raised over Rs 20,000 crore for various expressway projects in UP viz. 340 km Purvanchal Expressway, 296 km Bundelkhand Expressway, 91 km Gorakhpur Link Expressway and 628 km Ganga Expressway with total projected investment of nearly Rs 80,000 crore.

The civil works on these projects had come to a standstill during the initial phases of covid-19 lockdown imposed in March 2020. However, the work resumed from April in the non-containment zones, before going full steam in successive months.

The government has raised maximum Rs 11,300 crore for Purvanchal Expressway, which will link the backward Eastern UP districts with Central UP, thus offering faster connectivity to the NCR via existing expressways.

Besides, UPEIDA has planned to raise Rs 2,900 crore from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) for Ganga Expressway, which will cost more than Rs 36,000 crore.

The project will entail acquisition of 6,556 hectares of land and traverse Meerut, Amroha, Bulandshahar, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Kannauj, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratagarh and Prayagraj districts. It is projected to be the world’s largest access controlled expressway when completed.

Meanwhile, the state is mulling to launch the Ganga Expressway in the public private partnership (PPP) mode to attract foreign investors considering the large capex needed for the project.

S African defence major Milkor inks pact with UP

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Nov 8, 2020

South African military hardware maker Milkor has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Uttar Pradesh government for setting up its manufacturing unit in the UP Defence Corridor.

The company, which has proposed to invest Rs 20 crore, has sought 20 acres of land in Aligarh district, which constitutes ones of the six nodes of the Corridor viz. Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Chitrakoot, Kanpur and Lucknow.

Milkor was established in 1981 as an original designer and manufacturer of handheld 40mm Multiple Grenade Launcher weapon systems.  Over the years, it has developed into a full turnkey defence solution provider specialising in unmanned air, land and sea capabilities.

According to UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) CEO and additional chief secretary Awanish Kumar Awasthi, the MoU was signed by Milkor India managing director Luciano Jardim, who also acknowledged the fast changing business climate in the state.

Meanwhile, the government has acquired 1,438 hectares for the mega Corridor project, which is estimated to attract total investments of Rs 50,000 crore. Almost 5,000 hectares are expected to be acquired across all the six nodes of the Corridor for subsequent allotment to the public and private sector companies.

To woo the private investors, the Yogi Adityanath government is providing several incentives and subsidies on land and capital investment. Earlier, the state had framed the Defence and Aerospace Manufacturing Employment Promotion Policy 2018 to promote the growing indigenous defence manufacturing sector.

Considering the importance of the Corridor project for the country’s aim of becoming self reliant in military hardware requirements and attaining export status in the coming years, defence minister Rajnath Singh had recently asked the Yogi government to accelerate the projects and nurture close coordination with the investors.

Indian Navy had also signed an MoU with UPEIDA for setting up a ‘Centre of Excellence’ in the Corridor to promote research and innovation in the defence sector. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and IIT-BHU, Varanasi are already on board as knowledge partners in the UP Defence Corridor project.

Japanese automotive wiring major Yazaki to invest Rs 2,000 crore in UP

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Nov 6, 2020

 

Japanese automotive components and wiring major Yazaki will invest Rs 2,000 crore in a greenfield manufacturing unit in Uttar Pradesh.

 

Established in 1941, Yazaki Corporation is an independent automotive component and wire harnesses maker. It commands a considerable share of the global market, while its product profile also includes meters, electronic components etc. Its maiden overseas production facility was established in Thailand in 1962.

 

While talks with the company were continuing with regards to the proposed investment, Yazaki had yet not decided on the location of its plant.

 

According to UP infrastructure and industrial development commissioner (IIDC) Alok Tandon, the upcoming Jewar international airport in Greater Noida and the various logistics, cargo and manufacturing hubs in the state were contributing immensely in attracting fresh private investments in different sectors.

 

The proposed MSME Park, Electronics Park, Apparel park, Handicraft park and Toy park, apart from the 1,000 acre Film City, are also coming up in the Western UP region. All these schemes are expected to bring investment worth Rs 40,000 crore and generate nearly 300,000 job opportunities.

 

So far, UP had attracted more than 40 investment intents from top industrialised countries viz. Japan, USA, the UK, Canada, Germany, South Korea etc. totalling Rs 45,000 crore, while a large number of these proposals were already in the advanced stages for fruition and the land had also been allotted to the investors.

 

In the last six months, the UP industrial development authorities had allotted 326 industrial plots spanning 426 acres with a total investment profile of Rs 6,700 crore and employment potential of more than 135,000. These companies included major investors such as Hiranandani Group, Surya Global, Hindustan Unilever, MG Capsules, Kesho Packaging, Mountain View Technologies etc.

 

Even as the state possessed 20,000 acres of ‘ready to move’ industrial land bank, the government had set the ambitious target of developing an additional 5,000 acres of land bank in the current fiscal 2020-21.

 

The state has identified 22,000 acres of land along the different expressways for industrial development. Out of these, six high potential locations have been identified at Firozabad, Agra, Unnao, Chitrakoot, Mainpuri and Barabanki districts for establishment of industrial parks through various development models.

UP netted foreign investment proposals of Rs 7,000 crore in lockdown

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Nov 2, 2020

Uttar Pradesh government has garnered investment proposals worth nearly Rs 7,000 crore from foreign companies and investors during the lockdown period.

These investment proposals have come from offshore companies based out of nearly 10 countries/regions, including USA, Germany, Canada, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, South Korea etc.

These prospective investments pertain to different sectors and segments viz. integrated food processing, electronic manufacturing, ethanol, software development, footwear manufacturing, intermediate food products, granaries, steel, power plants, IT infra etc. Most of these proposals relate to investments in the National Capital Region (NCR) comprising Greater Noida, Noida etc.

To boost investment prospects during the pandemic and to cash in on the ongoing US-China trade war, following which global corporations have reportedly been exploring the options to shift their manufacturing and supply chains out of China, the Yogi Adityanath government had set up country specific helpdesks to interact with the foreign investors and showcase UP as an ideal investment destination.

Such interactions with the foreign industrialists and industry chambers were led by UP industrial development minister Satish Mahana and UP micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and export promotion minister Sidharth Nath Singh.

The country specific helpdesks were set up in May 2020 to facilitate investment from top countries, such as USA, South Korea, Japan etc, and were part of the slew of measures taken by the Yogi government to reboot the economic and industries activities post-lockdown.