The south Indian industrialists attended the Business to Government (B2G) meeting held on Monday at ITC Grand Chola in Chennai where they hailed Uttar Pradesh as a state with enormous investment potential.

The entrepreneurs, who attended the meeting organised as a part of the Road Show for the UP Global Investor Summit to be held in Lucknow next month, were enthusiastic about investment prospects in UP.

Some expressed a desire to invest in the transportation services that would link the religious cities of UP, while others expressed a desire to invest in the higher education sector.

In addition, entrepreneurs expressed enthusiasm for investments in the defence sector, financial services, hotel and distilleries, renewable energy, health care, and sugar mill industries.

Stating that Uttar Pradesh has seen a lot of spectacular and creative development work in recent years, the entrepreneurs said that this was the first time a government in Uttar Pradesh has taken the initiative to include business people from Tamil Nadu as partners in the state’s development.

Additionally, the entrepreneurs of Tamil Nadu want to see Uttar Pradesh act as the growth engine of New India. Investors have termed the recently held Kashi Tamil Sangamam in Varanasi as a very positive effort to bring the two states closer to each other.

Amarnath, an entrepreneur running Patterson Energy in the field of plastic waste management, said that his company is already working in UP. “Our company is working in the field of plastic waste management in collaboration with the Municipal Corporation in Mathura. For this, a plant has also been set up in Mathura. Our experience of working with the Yogi government has been very pleasant.”

Additionally, he noted that establishing an industry requires a variety of approvals, which was previously a difficult task in Uttar Pradesh. “However, it has become much simpler now to obtain any form of permission from the Yogi government,” he remarked.

Managing Director of Cetex Petrochemicals Ellenah said: “Uttar Pradesh has enormous potential in the chemical sector after Gujarat and Maharashtra. Our company wishes to invest in the petrochemicals sector in UP.”

“Two large petrochemical plants are located in the large state of UP. The business greatly benefits from UP’s closeness to New Delhi, the nation’s capital. In addition to this, Noida is home to numerous chemical businesses. We believe that this is the ideal time to make an investment in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.

T Srinivasan, Managing Director of Mails System and Services, said that his company has been working in the defence sector for 27 years.

“In the Automated Test Systems for the Army manufacturing sector, we are doing fantastic work. Our company is interested in investing in the Defence Corridor being built in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.