UP grants 6 month extension to pandemic-hit projects

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 31, 2021

The Uttar Pradesh government has granted six months extension to private investment projects hit by the abrupt Covid-19 lockdown last year.

The relief has been provided to such projects, which had already been provided with the letter of comfort (LoC) by the state government, and were expected to start commercial production between March 22 and December 31, 2020.

According to the UP industrial development department, the six months extension would be added to the expected commencement of production by an individual unit for calculating the new date of completion of projects.

An amended government order (GO) under the UP industrial investment and employment promotion policy 2017 has been issued by UP additional chief secretary, infrastructure and industrial development, Arvind Kumar in this regard.

This will not only provide an additional time window to the investors to complete their projects, but also retain their eligibility for availing of the various incentives promised by the government.

The industrial and commercial activities, barring those associated with medical supplies and essential commodities, had come to a standstill following lockdown in March 2020 pan India. Although, lockdown norms were subsequently relaxed in phases, yet the industrial units faced bottlenecks with regards to the availability of industrial inputs, movement of labour etc.

Keeping these factors in mind, the Yogi Adityanath government has allowed an extra six months to these companies.

In December 2020, the UP cabinet had similarly allowed six months extension to the mega 100 acre Lucknow IT City project of HCL Technologies. Under the concession agreement signed between the state government and HCL, the IT major is entitled to a host of incentives if the project was completed within the stipulated timeframe.

HCL Lucknow IT City project is the largest HCL campus in North India and offers a spectrum of services including infrastructure management, application development, product engineering, BPO and HCL internal enabling functions.

Whereas, phase I of the HCL IT City project was completed in time, phase II faced hiccups owing to lockdown. The Covid-19 pandemic not only halted the project for nearly two months, the pace of work remained sub-optimum during the subsequent lockdown periods as well.

Green watchdog shuts 94 leather tanneries in Kanpur

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 30, 2021

The Uttar Pradesh green watchdog has ordered the shutdown of 94 leather tanneries or nearly a third of total 268 operational units in the leather hub of Kanpur.

The decision was recently taken by the UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) to arrest the flow of untreated leather industry effluent in the water bodies, including river Ganga.

Kanpur accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the domestic leather tannery output and is the major supplier of leather belts, holster and horse saddles.

Kanpur leather industry, including tanneries and leather goods manufacturers, estimated at Rs 12,000 crore, provides direct and indirect employment to nearly a million people in Kanpur and adjoining Unnao districts. The Kanpur cluster is estimated to generate Rs 6,000 crore worth of exports to the Gulf, Europe, China, Iran etc.

“The closure order will not only dampen the sentiments in the Kanpur leather industry but lead to the crash in the prices of raw hide locally,” Small Tanners’ Association member Nayyar Jamal said.

Earlier, these 94 tanneries were issued show-cause notice pertaining to the discharge of effluents before the green watchdog finally decided to pass the shutdown order dated March 18, 2021.

Last year, the UPPCB citing National Green Tribunal (NGT) directives, had imposed restrictions on Kanpur tanneries to curb water pollution, and allowed half of the tanneries to operate during one fortnight with the remaining allowed to operate in the second fortnight.

Following the lockdown last year, the Kanpur leather industry witnessed a dwindling order book, both from domestic and foreign customers. The local tanneries generate finished hide for a variety of leather goods, including shoes, upholstery, apparels etc.

While, the upholstery leather catering the automobile and furnishing segments had fizzled out owing to lockdown, the tanneries were left to contend with the category of safety shoes used by the security forces, such as military, police etc.

UP top exporter among land-locked states

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 27, 2021

Uttar Pradesh is the country’s leading exporter among all the land-locked (surrounded by land) states in India.

According to UP additional chief secretary, MSME and export promotion, Navneet Sehgal, UP contributed 4.55 per cent in the net export basket of India, which was highest among land-locked provinces.

He informed UP accounted 45 per cent and 26 per cent of the total handicraft and leather/leather goods exports respectively from India.

Sehgal claimed exports from UP had jumped 38 per cent in three years from Rs 38,000 crore to Rs 1.20 trillion in 2019-20 financial year. “Now, we are looking to double our exports volume in the next three years.”

He observed higher exports would not only help in earning more foreign exchange, but also augment the state’s manufacturing capacity and generate jobs.

Meanwhile, the state government has expedited the process of setting up 15 common facility centres to cater the MSME entrepreneurs and startups.

UP export basket primarily consists of handicraft, handloom, carpet, textile, apparels, leather, woodwork, farm produce, food processing, engineering goods, sports goods, defence ware etc.

The Yogi Adityanath government has identified five important sectors to boost exports and manufacturing, including education, tourism, IT, medical value travel and logistics.

UP logs 38 million UID tagging of cattle

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 25, 2021

The Uttar Pradesh government has completed more than 38 million Unique Identification number (UID) taggings of cattle in the state.

The herculean task is being implemented by the state animal husbandry department as part of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission under the National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development (NPBBD).

It is aimed at the development and conservation of indigenous cattle breeds apart from the orderly management of the stray cattle as well.

The yellow UID ear tags helps the cattle owners avail of a range of government schemes and animal welfare services including artificial insemination, early detection of bovine diseases, vaccination, insurance etc.

The UID tag is akin to an Aadhar Card number of the animal. It aids in the enumeration process of the state cattle heads and ready identification of their owners, since the data is uploaded in a central server.

UP is among the largest Indian states in terms of the livestock population and dairy production.

BJP’s free power promise in WB fuels identical demand in UP

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 23, 2021

The promise by challenger Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to provide free 200 units of electricity every month to the households in West Bengal if voted to power has given rise to an identical demand in Uttar Pradesh, where it is the ruling outfit.

Taking a cue from BJP’s populist promise of free power in its WB Sankalp Patra (manifesto), a power consumers’ body has asked the UP government to offer a similar relief in the Hindi heartland state.

UP State Power Consumers’ Forum president Avadhesh Verma further claimed UP power distribution companies (discoms) were saddled with combined liability of Rs 19,535 crore under the heads of true-up (revised estimates) and UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana).

Yesterday, he submitted a memorandum to UP energy minister Shrikant Sharma seeking power tariff relief for nearly 30 million electricity consumers in the state.

“West Bengal has not seen a new power tariff order since 2016-17, whereas in UP, the consumers have to pay Rs 5.5 per unit for the first 150 units, which increases to Rs 6 per unit for the 151-300 unit slab, apart from Rs 110 as fixed charge for every kilowatt (kw) connection,” he lamented.

Yogi pegs UP as top investment destination

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 21, 2021

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has pegged the state as one of the foremost investment destinations in India today.

Addressing the media on completing 4 years as the CM of the country’s most populous state here on Friday, Yogi said Samsung Display unit and North India’s first data centre were coming up in UP, while global furniture retailer Ikea was also making big investments.

“In the last four years, the state has received total investments of about Rs 3 trillion, which created 3.5 million direct job opportunities,” he said adding his government had rolled out 21 sectoral policies to spur investments and industrialisation.

The CM noted his government worked on the theme of ‘Reform, Perform, Transform’ to retrieve UP from the stigma of a BIMARU (economically backward) state to saddle it among the top performers.

“Now, UP is ranked among the leading states in key socioeconomic and agricultural parameters. The positive perception and a marked improvement in the law and order situation in the state has helped in attracting investments,” he added.

Yogi said UP is currently ranked 2nd in the Ease of Doing Business parameter, while the state is now the 2nd largest economy in India.

He claimed his government had anchored loans worth over Rs 2 trillion to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) benefitting 5 million units, and creating jobs and self employment opportunities totalling 18 million.

Referring to Covid-19 pandemic, the CM observed coronavirus management by his government had been acknowledged by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“Now, two AIIMS are operational in Gorakhpur and Rae Bareli and new medical colleges are being set up,” he said while referring to the slew of mega infra and tourism projects in the pipeline to foster growth.

“We are setting up three new international airports in Jewar (Noida), Kushinagar and Ayodhya, while 17 other airports are being developed in other places to boost tourism,” he said.

Yogi thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union home minister Amit Shah, ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office bearers for supporting his government over the past four years.

UP journalists to elect executive panel on Sunday

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 19, 2021

Amidst the hustle bustle of impending general elections in West Bengal and panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh, the coming UP accredited journalists’ polls in Lucknow has emerged as a true show stealer.

The Fourth Estate panel aspirants have deployed all the quintessential poll campaigning tools and tactics to garner votes in their favour. These comprise catchy social media posts, pithy jingles, colourful hand bills/cards, bulk SMS and making ‘humble’ personal visits or phone calls to their brethren.

The polls, the voting of which is scheduled for Sunday (Mar 21), will elect the executive body of the UP Accredited Journalists Association, which currently has 860 members representing different state, national and international level newspapers, news channels, news agencies apart from independent and veteran journalists of the state.

An election committee comprising seasoned journalists has already been constituted to oversee the entire process and ensure transparency. The elected panel numbering 23 will comprise a president and a secretary, supported by three vice presidents, three joint secretaries, a treasurer and 14 members.

This time, 85 male and female candidates, who make up for nearly 10 per cent of the strength of the Association, are in fray. While some candidates have been contesting and winning over the past several years, there are a number of fresh candidates trying their luck this time round.

These elections were due last year, but were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown.

The panel is expected to serve as an interface between the state government and the media fraternity for creating a conducive environment for free and fair reportage and also raising issues of interests of the media persons.

According to a senior journalist, the state capital has a rich tradition of holding elections to elect the august panel. “The elections are being held since the 1950s, although the role of the panel was limited earlier. It was basically elected to ensure there was no clash of timings between two important press conferences or events for coverage.”

Ayodhya temple project fueling realty market

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 19, 2021

The Lord Ram temple project in Ayodhya has boosted the housing and real estate market in the sleepy temple town.

While, the property rates in Ayodhya district have almost doubled following the Supreme Court’s November 2019 verdict on the vexed issue, paving way for the long awaited construction of the temple, the UP Housing Board has also proposed to anchor a mega 1,190 acres township.

Local realtor Awadhesh Singh said the land rates in Ayodhya had touched about Rs one crore per acre near the highways from about Rs 50 lakh earlier. “The land rates in the interior areas have also increased by 80-100 per cent,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, the UP Housing Board township development will come up at a distance of nearly 4 km from the proposed temple precincts and entail acquisition of land worth Rs 850 crore.

According to sources, the solar powered township will be modelled on ancient theme. The Board has tied up with Canadian township planner LEA Associates to prepare its layout and design.

Recently, UP chief secretary R K Tiwari had directed officials to expedite the ongoing projects according to the Vision Document of Ayodhya.

Besides, the government is working on a plan to bring about uniformity in the buildings in the temple town for cultivating a distinct image. In the first phase, all government buildings will be taken up, while the private building owners will be encouraged to follow suit.

After coming to power in March 2017, the Yogi Adityanath government had renamed Faizabad district as Ayodhya, while upgrading Ayodhya town as a municipal corporation for improving the civic standards and infusing more government funds.

Apart from the proposed Ram temple, there are a slew of other projects in the pipeline to develop the town as a future tourist hub with good road and air connectivity.

On August 5, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the temple, thus setting the tone for a speedier pace of infra and tourism projects. The temple project would span nearly 85,000 sq ft and rank among the biggest Hindu temples in the world. It will have a capacity to accommodate 50,000 devotees at a time.

The Lord Ram temple is estimated to cost Rs 1,000 crore and its construction is being done by the Temple Trust out of its own financial resources and public donations. Currently, the foundation of the temple is being prepared.

ICICI Bank to automate UP industry interface

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 18, 2021

Private sector lender ICICI Bank has been roped in to digitise and automate the industry and investment interface of the Uttar Pradesh government.

This comes in the backdrop of the UP government targetting to increase exports to the tune of Rs 3 trillion annually by 2023-24 up from Rs 1.20 trillion in 2019-20 financial year.

On Tuesday, ICICI Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the UP micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) department to digitalise and interconnect the district industry centres (DIC), which are the district level nodes for facilitating investments and setting up industries in the state.

The Bank will interlink all the DIC modules with the state headquarters for speedier approvals and flow of information. The ICICI Bank will provide a propriety enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to the state government.

“The tie-up is expected to not only facilitate investors and entrepreneurs in the state, but lead to an uptick in the credit offtake,” UP MSME and export promotion minister Sidharth Nath Singh said on the occasion.

He informed the state had facilitated net credit flow of nearly Rs 2.5 trillion to about 5 million MSME units over the past four years of the Yogi Adityanath government, which generated almost 25 million job opportunities.

“In the economic sphere, no scheme can be successful without the intervention of banking and technology. The onboarding of the ICICI Bank will increase our efficiency and provide direct benefit to small entrepreneurs,” Singh noted.

UP’s export basket consists of electrical and electronics goods, apparels, footwear, machinery, carpets etc, while the major export destinations include the United States (US), United Arab of Emirates (UAE), Vietnam, Germany, Russia etc.

He added the flagship one district one product (ODOP) scheme of the UP government had created a benchmark in India and peer states were now looking to replicate it to promote their respective indigenous and traditional industries and handicrafts.

Even during the current financial year, which was largely hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, the state government had anchored credit flow of more than Rs 43,000 crore to 1.32 million MSMEs, UP additional chief secretary, MSME and export promotion, Navneet Sehgal informed.

UP borrows Rs 7,000 crore for Bundelkhand Expressway

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 17, 2021

The Uttar Pradesh government has borrowed bank loans totalling Rs 7,000 crore for its flagship 296 km Bundelkhand Expressway project.

The mega project is estimated to cost Rs 15,000 crore, and traverse seven districts viz. Chitrakoot, Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Auraiya and Etawah. 

According to nodal agency UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) CEO Awanish Kumar Awasthi, so far eight commercial banks had sanctioned loans worth almost Rs 7,000 crore, of which Rs 2,900 crore had already been invested in the ongoing civil works.

Last year, the state government had awarded six packages of Bundelkhand Expressway to successful bidders viz. Apco Infratech, Ashoka Buildcon, Gawar Construction and Dilip Buildcon. So far, the companies had completed about 48 per cent of the ground work.

The big infra project will connect the 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.

Meanwhile, the state has raised more than 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 work on these projects had come to a standstill during the initial weeks of Covid-19 lockdown imposed in March 2020. However, the work gradually resumed April onwards from the non-containment zones.

Of the total loans, more than Rs 11,000 crore have been borrowed for Purvanchal Expressway, which will link the backward Eastern UP districts with Central UP, thus offering faster connectivity to the NCR via existing expressways.

UP traders bracing up for ecommerce threat!

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 14, 2021

Amid the growing penetration of ecommerce players including Amazon and Flipkart in the domestic retail space, the traders in Uttar Pradesh are now bracing up for the challenge and equipping themselves with the power of information technology (IT).

The traders have decided to become digital savvy and learn modern retailing tools for measuring up to the fresh competition.

Under the aegis of UP Adarsh Vyapar Mandal, a workshop was organised here today to teach the traders how to upgrade their business and increase revenue in the prevailing scenario.

According to Mandal president Sanjay Gupta, the master trainer gave them the 4D digital mantra, which entailed making their product, payment, platform and system digitally complaint for long term survival and growth of the businesses and trade.

The traders were asked to first consolidate their business in their areas of operation before foraying into other places. They were also impressed upon for constantly upgrading and transforming their work spaces.

The businessmen were asked to offer full value to their customers to beat the present and future competition.

Gupta said although the businesses and trade had been hard hit due to the Covid-19 pandemic, yet the traders should maintain positive outlook and recognise new opportunities in the market.

Singapore trade body, IIT Kanpur to promote startups

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow, 12 Mar

The startup arm of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) have announced a collaboration to promote entrepreneurship across the borders.

SICCI and IIT Kanpur’s Start-up Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Thursday to provide a gateway of opportunities and an ecosystem to tech-based startups. They will identify young talent to provide them with incubation services.

Among the oldest trade associations in Singapore, SICCI enables businesses to identify networking opportunities and enhance their operations globally. Established in 2000, SIIC is one of the oldest technology business incubators in India promoted by IIT Kanpur.

“Each country will facilitate networking events, including trade fairs, business missions, exhibitions, and relevant trade conferences, to stimulate the growth of early-stage startups. The one-of-its-kind association will provide startups in Singapore and India a competitive edge in the global market,” an IIT Kanpur communiqué said.

As one of the first initiatives, both organisations will work on a ‘Launchpad’ initiative, to be held on April 21, 2021, to recognise innovative startups in the cross-border Singapore-India ecosystem.

“With SIIC, we plan to provide a well-deserved ‘launchpad’ to startups for creating well-established global brands that thrive on excellence, innovation, and ingenuity,” SICCI chairman T Chandroo noted on the occasion.

UP government junks Mulayam era industrial enclave

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 8, 2021

Uttar Pradesh has junked erstwhile Mulayam Singh Yadav government’s proposed yet comatose industrial enclave, Lucknow Industrial Development Authority (LIDA), to unlock its assets, mainly land.

The state government has merged LIDA with UP State Industrial Development Authority (UPSIDA) to implement stalled projects.

LIDA was constituted in July 2005 during the erstwhile Samajwadi Party (SP) regime headed by Yadav. Aimed at promoting industrial development in Central UP, LIDA was pitched as a counter magnet to the National Capital Region (NCR) and Noida region for attracting investment and generating employment.

Nearly 80 villages of Lucknow and adjoining Unnao districts were notified under LIDA for industrial development and allotment to investors. However, there was little progress under the Authority over the past 15 years spanning different party regimes.

Now, the state has approved the proposal to merge LIDA with UPSIDA with state additional chief secretary, industrial development, Arvind Kumar issuing the government notification. The merger transfers all the assets and liabilities vested with LIDA to UPSIDA, allowing it to prospectively manage its pending projects.

LIDA witnessed sluggish progress especially during the Mayawati dispensation (2007-12), although the state had proposed to acquire 2,000 acres along the Lucknow-Unnao highway in the first phase. LIDA also faced land acquisition hurdles even as the Authority tied up with the Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) for a loan of Rs 73 crore.

Over the past few years, the Authority was striving for revival with its Board clearing a Master Plan spanning 30,000 hectares in Lucknow and Unnao districts. The Master Plan had trifurcated LIDA notified areas into Township A, B and C viz. Township A as 'multifunctional' zone near Lucknow; Township B comprised a tourism zone around the Nawabganj bird sanctuary; and Township C was proposed to be an industrial zone in Unnao.

The notified land was proposed to comprise 26% residential, 21% industrial, 20% green, 16% transportation zone and the remaining for commercial and mixed land use. LIDA was also looking for a synergy with the Lucknow Master Plan and providing for a parallel railway cargo corridor with Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) for transportation.

UP to surrender costly power in election year!

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 7, 2021

Looking to provide succour to power consumers, the Uttar Pradesh government is mulling to surrender costly power supplied by various public and private sector energy companies.

According to sources, this could result in savings of nearly Rs 2,000 crore annually to the state, thus providing an elbow room to chief minister Yogi Adityanath to keep power tariffs low or even cut tariffs during the crucial election year.

While, UP’s power tariffs are among the highest in the country, the state will witness assembly polls in the early months of 2022.

Most of the ‘costly’ power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 1,600 megawatt (mw) pertain to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) route signed during the previous regimes with the state power utility, UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL).

The companies whose projects would be hit if the proposal to surrender costly power gets implemented include public sector energy major NTPC, and private power producers viz. Bajaj Group, M B Power, KSK Mahanadi Power and RKM Powergen.

Yesterday, UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhogta Parishad president Avadhesh Verma had submitted a report to state power minister Shrikant Sharma and demanded to surrender power that cost more than Rs 5 per unit since cheaper power was readily available from other sources, including energy exchanges.

The cost of power being purchased from these companies ranged from Rs 5.35 per unit to as high as Rs 6.05 per unit, he claimed.

Uttar Pradesh is key to global fight against Covid-19

PM Narendra Modi taking Covaxin jab

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 5, 2021

Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, is leading the country’s and in turn a global fight against Covid-19 pandemic by vaccinating more than a million health and frontline workers so far.

Having a population of over 220 million, the landlocked state of UP would be placed 6th in a league of nations if it was an independent country.

Since, the Covid-19 vaccination drive took off in India on January 16, the state of UP has been at the forefront of the campaign to defeat the pandemic which rocked the world last year, shutting down businesses and outdoor social life.

UP also tops peer states in terms of conducting the maximum number of coronavirus sample testing of more than 30 million and counting! This accounts for roughly 15 per cent of the total testing in India.

Aspiring to become a US$ trillion economy by 2024, UP was hit hard by the pandemic last year when nearly 4 million of its people, mostly unskilled and semi-skilled workers in other states, returned to the native province after lockdown abruptly shut industries and businesses in March 2020.

The sudden reverse workers’ migration coupled with the rising infections during the early months of March, April and May put the entire state government machinery in an overdrive to ensure the safe return of the ‘migrant’ workers to their native places/villages, and to arrange for their mandatory testing and quarantine, apart from providing them with the exigent livelihood and food support.

Yet, in the backdrop of these overwhelming factors, the cumulative coronavirus infection tally in UP today stands at only about 0.6 million, of which 98 per cent have recovered after treatment at different government and private hospitals.

The deaths tally, unfortunate though, too stand at a comparatively controlled level of about 8,700 in UP although the state is acknowledged as traditionally lacking in quality medical and healthcare infrastructure vis-à-vis other advanced states like Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab etc.

Besides, the state health surveillance teams have, since last year, surveyed over 31 million households across the 75 districts in UP, covering a population of 152 million to detect and report cases of coronavirus and to create awareness among the masses.

The government has claimed it has adequate stock of both Covishield and Covaxin doses apart from other medical supplies viz. vials, syringes etc, for the successive rounds. The state has already started the 3rd phase of the vaccinations to inoculate 60+ aged, apart from 45+ aged having co-morbidities.

Yogi pitches UP to become India’s top economy

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 4, 2021

Even as Uttar Pradesh is targetting to become a US$ trillion economy in the next few years, chief minister Yogi Adityanath has said his government was working to propel the state as the largest domestic economy soon.

In the current 2020-21 financial year, Maharashtra, UP and Tamil Nadu are ranked as the country’s top economies with the respective estimated Gross Domestic Product (GSDP) of Rs 30.7 trillion, Rs 19.4 trillion and Rs 19.2 trillion.

Speaking on the floor of the state legislative assembly yesterday, Yogi said UP’s GSDP had doubled under his rule (Mar 2017-present) from about Rs 10.9 trillion in 2015-16, when it was the 5th largest, to the second spot, and projected to touch Rs 21.73 trillion in 2021-22.

“If the GSDP of UP could be doubled over the past four years, the state will also become India’s top economy when we go for the state elections on the completion of our five year term,” he noted.

The CM stressed although the pandemic had impacted the coffers, yet his government worked dexterously on increasing revenues, plugging leakages and controlling expenses. He said the revenue collection had witnessed a steady increase under different heads of commercial tax, GST, excise, transport, mining, stamp & registration.

“When we had come to power, UP was ranked 14th on the Ease of Doing Business index and reckoned as the major constituent of BIMARU (chronically economically backward) states, while investors were not ready to come,”  he said adding UP was now ranked 2nd in the parameter.

Meanwhile, Yogi reiterated support to the new farm laws, saying they only provided a lucrative marketing alternative to the farmers and were not mandatory in nature. He questioned the posturing of its opponents for allegedly trying to deprive farmers from its benefits.

India’s sugar output jumps 20% to 24 million tonnes

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 3, 2021

Amid bumper stockpiles, India’s sugar output has now jumped by 20% from 19.5 million tonnes (MT) to nearly 24 MT in the ongoing 2020-21 crushing season.

According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), Maharashtra has logged sugar production of 8.5 MT compared to 5 MT last year during the corresponding period. In Uttar Pradesh, 109 of the total 120 mills are currently in operation with the state tally standing at about 7.5 MT, which is roughly at the same level as last year.

Citing market reports, it said ex-mill sugar prices in most states are under pressure and showing downward trend. The average prices in Tamil Nadu are hovering between Rs 3,200-3,225 per quintal (100 kg), while in the Northern states, the prices are in the range of Rs 3,160–3,180 per quintal.

These prices are Rs 80-100 per quintal lower than what was prevailing last year during the corresponding period. “This is not a good sign as low sugar prices, much below the cost of production for last several months, have adversely affected the liquidity of mills and their ability to pay the free and remunerative price (FRP) to farmers. It is feared that if such situation persists then arrears will jump to uncomfortable levels,” ISMA noted.

The Association has suggested for the upward revision of the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar, which was last revised two years back when the FRP of cane was at Rs 275 per quintal. “Since, the government has already increased the FRP by Rs 10 per quintal for the current year, there is an urgent need to increase the MSP of sugar to Rs 34.50 per kg.”

On the export front too, mills are facing problems of shortage of trucks and containers as well as adequate availability of vessels at the ports. “We hope for an early solution to these problems, especially as around 3.2 MT of export contracts have been entered into at the end of Feb 2021,” an ISMA communiqué read.

UP inks pact for Noida airport with Zurich AG

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 2, 2021

 

The Uttar Pradesh government has signed the State Support Agreement (SSA) for the proposed Jewar greenfield international airport, Greater Noida with the Swiss concessionaire, Zurich Airport International (Zurich AG).

 

The agreement was signed here on Monday between Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) and Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), the special purpose vehicle floated by Zurich AG to develop the mega project in Gautam Buddha Nagar district.

 

Speaking on the occasion, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath warned officials against any slackness and red tape, which could delay the flagship project. He noted the project had been hanging fire for 30 years before it was set on priority by his regime after coming to power in March 2017.

 

The Authority is expected to handover the possession of 90 per cent of nearly 1,365 hectares of land required for the first phase of the project to YIAPL this month.

 

The concession agreement was signed with Zurich AG on October 7, 2020 and the terms of the pact mandated that the SSA with the state be signed within 180 days. Now, the state will link the airport project with modern public transport infra spanning roads, railways, metro rail etc.

 

Yogi directed the Gautam Buddha Nagar and Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) officials to expedite the process of land acquisition and resettlement of affected land owners, so that the project meets its set timelines.

 

He said while two international airports were already operational at Lucknow and Varanasi, the proposed international airports at Jewar, Kushinagar and Ayodhya would make UP a hub of international aviation in the years to come. The state is also aiming to develop 2^nd World War airstrips in UP into full fledged airports.

 

According to the techno-economic feasibility report, the Jewar airport would handle 70 million passengers and 3 million tonnes cargo annually when fully developed in phases.

 

The new airport will be designed, developed and operated under a 40 year concession period and Zurich AG will invest more than Rs 4,500 crore in the first phase of the project. It will also decongest the New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) and boost industrial development in the Noida and Yamuna Expressway region.

UP injected Rs 42,000 crore in MSMEs to beat pandemic

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Mar 1, 2021

The Uttar Pradesh government injected bank loans of about Rs 42,000 crore in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector to overcome pandemic challenges.

According to UP additional chief secretary, MSME and export promotion, Navneet Sehgal, the government facilitated working capital loans totalling almost Rs 12,000 crore to 438,000 MSME units in the current financial year 2020-21.

Besides, loans worth Rs 30,000 crore were distributed to 864,000 startups and new MSMEs during the period. “This way, the state injected Rs 42,000 crore in the MSME sector benefitting 1.3 million units,” he said adding the industrial activities were fast returning to the pre-Covid levels.

The injection of fresh funds had created 2.8 million fresh employment opportunities, which greatly helped the state workforce in the backdrop of reverse migration of nearly 4 million workers during the early phases of lockdown last year.

In fact, over the past four years, almost 5 million MSME units in UP were linked to the credit facilities of nearly Rs 1.9 trillion, thus collectively creating jobs for 15 million youth and workers.

The Yogi Adityanath government is targetting to increase industrial exports, including MSMEs, in the next three years to hit the Rs 3 trillion mark. During 2018-19 and 2019-20 fiscal years, the sectoral exports from the state stood at Rs 1.14 trillion and Rs 1.20 trillion respectively.