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| Prime
Minister Narendra Modi(The Total Investment & Insurance
Solutions) |
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday announced that his government will
establish a Rs 20,000-crore defence industrial production corridor in Bundelkhand
-- a region divided between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh -- that will
generate 250,000 jobs and bring development to one of the most impoverished
regions of the country.
"I
am making an important announcement. In this year's budget, we had announced
that we will establish two defence industrial production corridors. One of them
will be in Bundelkhand," Modi said addressing the inaugural session of the
two-day Uttar Pradesh 'Investors Meet' at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in
Lucknow.
The
government had earlier announced that it would develop two such corridors. The
first of the two, announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget
speech, is being built between Chennai and Bengaluru - connecting Kattupalli
port, Chennai, Tiruchi, Coimbatore and Hosur.
The
project, he said, would bring an "investment of Rs 20,000 crore and
generate employment avenues for 2.5 lakh people".
The
Prime Minister said the decision to come with the defence production corridor
to Uttar Pradesh was taken keeping in mind the developmental requirements of
Bundelkhand region.
The
corridor will link Agra, Aligarh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi and Chitrakoot.
Modi
said Uttar Pradesh had a vast potential for development but needed policy,
planning , performance. He lauded the efforts of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
for setting the state on the path to give a "super hit" performance.
The
Prime Minister pointed out how air traffic in the state had grown by 30 per
cent in the past one year with just three international airports in Agra,
Varanasi and Lucknow.
He
said it was more than the national average and indicated a huge potential in
the state for civil aviation.
The
Prime Minister said more airports will be initiated in multiple parts of the
state to realize his dream of "hawai chappal pehne wala bhi, hawa mein
udna chahiye".
"New
airports will give it (the air traffic in Uttar Pradesh) an additional boost.
The state is also home to the largest rail network."
Modi
said the Centrally-sponsored Prime Ministerial Kisan Property scheme will
reduce crop-grain-fruits and waste of vegetables as the government was also
keen on modernizing the entire supply chain and infrastructure for the agri and
allied sectors to help in doubling the farmers income by 2022.
He
said the initiatives would help the state in particular because it is ranked
number one in the country in production of foodgrains, wheat, sugarcane, milk,
potato production. It is number two in terms of vegetable production and third
in fruit production.
He
also called for a storage and marketing grid, underlining how the produce of
farmers was wasted in a big way because of lack of facilities.
Modi
suggested that local manufacturing units for chips and similar products could
minimize the losses inflicted on farmers due to lack of storage and transport
facilities.
The
investors event organised by the Yogi Adityanath government is aimed to
showcase the investment opportunities in the state. Corporate honchos are
attending the summit.
Modi
also praised the Uttar Pradesh government for curbing red tape and rolling out
the red carpet for investors and taking decisions that have linked industrial
development with employment generation.
"There
is no dearth of resources and opportunities in Uttar Pradesh where you find
'Lucknowi chikankari', Banarsi zardosi', brassware of Moradabad and glassware
industries of Firozabad," Modi said.
He
called for "inter-linking of expertise and efficiency" and lauded the
state government for its innovative 'one district, one product' scheme.
"This
is a game changer and I am sure the artisans and industries in places like
Firozabad, Mallihabad, Agra, Lucknow and Varanasi will hugely benefit from
this."
He
also asked the Uttar Pradesh government to compete with Maharashtra in
achieving the target of a one trillion dollar economy.
"I
set this challenge before Uttar Pradesh to compete with Maharashtra and let us
see who will become the first trillion dollar economy," he said.
Urging
the states to get into the "spirit of competitive cooperative
federalism" and to try and outsmart each other in growth and
industrialization indices, he said Uttar Pradesh had advantages in terms of
being a favourite investment destination as 60 per cent of the state's
population was a working force.
The
Prime Minister also launched an integrated digital clearance system portal of
the state government which aims to minimize human interface and faster
procedures, cut red tape and delays and offer solutions to investors.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
