UP signs its budget's worth of MoUs

As many as 1,045 Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 4.28 lakh crore — equal to the state's budget for 2018-19 — were signed at the UP Investors' Summit, which began at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in the state capital on Wednesday.

On the opening day of the two-day summit, the country's three top industrialists announced they would invest Rs 70,000 crore in UP and create more than 3 lakh jobs for youth in the state.

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani said at the summit that Reliance Jio has already invested Rs 20,000 crore and provided 40,000 jobs. "Reliance Jio will invest Rs 10,000 crore more in next three years and create over 1 lakh jobs in the state," he said.

To advance Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Digital India campaign, Ambani said his company would make available 2 crore smartphones in two months in UP.

Lauding the PM's 'Namami Gange' project, he said that Reliance Foundation will make a significant contribution to cleaning the river.

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani said the summit reminded him of 'Vibrant Gujarat' initiative when Modi was chief minister. He announced to invest Rs 35,000 crore and create 1 lakh job avenues in the state in five years.

Adani group will invest in alternate energy, cement, logistics, storage, cold chain and warehousing in the state. It will also set up a 1000 MW solar power plant, a state of art university for skill development and Food processing units and Food Parks in Uttar Pradesh.

Birla Group chairman Kumarmanglam Birla said, "My company will invest Rs 25,000 crore in Cement, telecom, chemical industries and create 1 lakh job opportunities."

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) group chairman Anand Mahindra pledged to invest Rs 25,000 crore and set up an electric vehicle manufacturing unit in the state. The group will also develop a Rs 200-crore resort in Modi's constituency Varanasi.

Tata Group chairman N Chandrasekaran promised to set up another TCS Centre in addition to Lucknow and create 30,000 new job avenues for IT graduates.

Apollo Hospital chairman Shobhna Komineni said they would open four colleges in the state to skill youths and help them get jobs in the sector.

FICCI chairman Rashesh Shah said that they would come out with a project to boost investment opportunities in UP, which has the largest manpower in the country.

Earlier, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath assured of a hassle-free single-window digital clearance system for government approvals, robust infrastructure and security to those making investments in the state.