Easily the first mega event of its kind in the state, the ‘Uttar Pradesh Investors Summit, 2018’ has fired the imagination of the Yogi Adityanath government, which is determined to use the occasion as a launch pad for getting huge investments. The two-day investors summit will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan here on Wednesdsay.

This is probably for the first time that a concerted effort has been made by the government of the day to woo industrialists and potential investors to Uttar Pradesh where industrial development has been largely confined to Noida and Greater Noida in Gautam Buddha Nagar district in the NCR (National Capital Region).

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According to the state industrial development minister Satish Mahana, 900 MoUs (memorandums of understanding) have been finalised with potential investors.

Mahana said through these MoUs an investment of Rs 3 lakh crore is expected to be made in different sectors in the state.

Among the proposals which are likely to be green flagged in the summit are a defence corridor in Bundelkhand, a logistic park in eastern Uttar Pradesh, electronic vehicles hub on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway and a pharmaceutical park in western Uttar Pradesh. An investment of Rs 6300 crore is expected in the health and pharmaceutical sector.

That the BJP government at the Centre is leaving no stone unturned to project Uttar Pradesh as an investment-friendly state is evident from the fact that 18 Union ministers will attend the conclave.

These include finance minister Arun Jaitley, commerce minister Suresh Prabhu, information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and information and broadcasting minister Smriti Irani. The central ministers will also participate in the sessions devoted to different sectors.

The two-day event would be divided into 30 sessions with Finland, The Netherlands, Japan, Czech Republic , Thailand, Slovakia and Mauritius attending the summit as partner countries. President Ram Nath Kovind will be present in the closing session of the investors summit on Thursday.

Notwithstanding the efforts to boost industrial investment, Uttar Pradesh has lagged behind in development. The poor law and order situation and erratic power supply were the two issues which made investors wary to pool in their resources in the state.

As far as the law and order and crime situation is concerned, mercifully, it appears to be improving, largely on account of the tough stand taken by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath , who has professed zero tolerance towards crime.

Investors may now also be ensured of uninterrupted power supply. It has been given in the Industrial Policy, 2017, of the Yogi government that industrialists and investors would be allowed to purchase power from a private player and may not have to necessarily depend on the state for meeting their electricity needs.