Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday assured top industrialists of the country that he was willing to carry out the necessary reforms in any sector for the sake of development of Uttar Pradesh and an “atmanirbhar Bharat.”
Industrialist Gautam Adani said he was investing ₹70,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh and this would create 30,000 jobs in the State.
The Adani Group and the Uttar Pradesh government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build south Asia’s largest integrated ammunition manufacturing complex in the Kanpur section of the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor, the State government said. Adani Defence and Aerospace would spend ₹1,500 crore on the 250-acre complex.
Mr. Modi, addressing an investors summit in the Uttar Pradesh capital, said he believed that the State would provide the “momentum” to India’s “growth story” in the 21st century.
‘Major driving force’
“Just look at these 10 years, Uttar Pradesh is going to be a major driving force of India,” said the Prime Minister at an event where he laid the foundation stone of 1,406 projects worth over ₹80,000 crore.
With top industrialists such as Gautam Adani and Kumar Mangalam Birla, bureaucrats and members of the State government including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in attendance, Mr. Modi addressed the third ground breaking ceremony of the Uttar Pradesh Investors Summit.
The huge investments show the rising trust in Uttar Pradesh’s growth story, the Prime Minister said in Lucknow.
“I assure you that for the development of Uttar Pradesh and an Atmanirbhar Bharat, if reforms are necessary in any sector we will continuously carry out those reforms,” he said.
Under the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government, there was a right atmosphere for business and apparent improvement in administrative capacities of the State, said Mr. Modi. The trust of businessmen had been restored due to the improvement in the law and order situation of the State, he added.
Mr. Adani, who was the first industrialist to speak at the event, lauded both Mr. Modi and Mr. Adityanath calling them “two great leaders working to build a Naya Bharat.”
“Gujarat model”
Mr. Adani said Mr. Modi was implementing the “famed Gujarat model” across the country and Uttar Pradesh was the symbol of this transformation.
As Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr. Modi had “conceptualised, executed and institutionalised an economic model driven by a tremendous focus on industrialisation and balanced development for all,” said Mr. Adani.
The Gujarati businessman also said that Mr. Adityanath’s vision had aligned with the nation building vision of Mr. Modi and that this served as an example for other States.
“You are establishing the foundation on which Uttar Pradesh’s trillion dollar economy will be built,” Mr. Adani said referring to Mr. Adityanath.
Mr. Adani said that of the ₹70,000 crore, he had already spent ₹11,000 crore across fields, including green energy, water, agri logistics and data centre. The Adani Group was also investing ₹24,000 crore on road and transport infrastructure and ₹35,000 crore on multi-modal logistics as well as in the defence sector, said Mr. Adani.
The ammunition manufacturing complex in Kanpur would be the largest private sector investment in the Uttar Pradesh Defence Corridor, he said.
