March 3, 2011 in Investment Destinations by admin
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh, situated in the Northern part of India, covers a total area of 2,40,928 sq km. It is bounded by Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in the north; by Haryana and Delhi in the west; by Madhya Pradesh in the south; and by Bihar in the east. It can be divided into two distinct regions, namely, Southern hills and Gangetic plain. Nepal also touches the northern borders of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.). It, thus, assumes strategic importance for Indian defence. Rich and tranquil expanses of meadows, perennial rivers, dense forests and fertile soil of Uttar Pradesh provide excellent economic opportunities.
Agriculture has been a major occupation of the people of the State. The main agricultural commodities are wheat, sugarcane, paddy, fruits and vegetables. However, over the years, industries have become backbone of the economy, mainly in the fields of textiles, sugar, food-processing, mining, etc. U.P., being dotted with various holy shrines, pilgrim places and joyous festivals, has become an important tourist destination. In addition, there are integrated townships of Noida and Greater Noida, adjacent to New Delhi, with fully developed infrastructure including recreational facilities like golf area.
Uttar Pradesh is well endowed with abundant wealth of land, water, minerals and forest produces. It has skilled, educated and technical human resource base. It also has excellent connectivity to all parts of the country, through efficient and reliable transportation facilities. A good quality power supply is available for household and industrial purposes. Large number of bank branches have been established in the State, including major foreign banks, for providing good financial services to the local communities and investors. Besides, there exists well-developed special purpose modern industrial areas like software technology parks, electronic city, toy city, plastic city, integrated agro park, leather park, chemical complex and textile city.
Investment Policies and Incentives
The Government of Uttar Pradesh has been making all efforts to set up the right kind of business climate into the State. Accordingly, it has undertaken several policy measures and incentives, from time to time, for the various sectors of the economy. These policies aim to diversify the agricultural and industrial base; generate adequate employment opportunities; as well as motivate the investors to invest in the State.
The major policy being, the Information Technology (IT) Policy, which aims to use Information Technology as a vehicle for economic development as well as to create a hi-tech society with a high quality of life in Uttar Pradesh. The main objectives of the policy are to:-
?Bring information technology (IT) to the masses;
?Accelerate the use of IT in schools, colleges and educational institutions;
?Spur the domestic demand for software, hardware and services;
?Make software, electronics/IT hardware and ITS/ITES sectors globally competitive and thereby increase their export earnings;
?Facilitate the industry for addressing global markets;
?Facilitate formation of value additions for growth of the industry;
?Help businesses realise full potential in creating wealth; etc.
Another important policy is the Biotech Policy , which has been formulated with a view to make Uttar Pradesh a more prosperous State, by utilizing modern tools of biotechnology and thereby bringing prosperity to farmers, generating employment in rural areas, providing food, good health and clean environment for all. The mission of the policy is to develop knowledge-based economy, assure benefit of biotechnology to all sections of the State and promote entrepreneurship in biotechnology-based industries. The basic objectives of the policy are to:-
?Establish pre-eminent position of the State in the field of biotechnology;
?Create awareness about the entrepreneurial and job opportunities in the field of biotechnology;
?Attract biotechnology based industrial investment;
?Develop and conserve bio-resource for sustainable commercial use;
?Harness existing research and development (R&D) capabilities for industrial/ commercial developments in the State and to promote corporate funding and developing such knowledge;
?Develop adequate institutional and related infrastructure for development, acquisition and dissemination of biotechnology through out the State; and
?Promote research and development and to establish centers of excellence in frontier area of biotechnology.
Besides, there is a Policy for Food Processing Industry, which has been announced to develop sound and efficient agro-based and food-processing units in the State. The policy aims at achieving the following objectives:-
?Ensure better returns to the farmer for his produce;
?Encourage investment and employment generation in the sector;
?Promote value addition and quality consciousness;
?Minimize wastage of agriculture and horticulture produce;
?Provision of appropriate linkages between the agricultural and industrial sectors;
?Provide a ‘market’ focus to the entire range of activities involved in food processing; etc.
Investment Opportunities
In the recent years, Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) has attracted one of the highest investment proposals in the country. It has attracted some of the largest international companies to set up their industrial units in the State. However, the main traditional industries of the State are sugar industry, mineral-based industry, information technology, handlooms and textiles, etc. A wide variety of agricultural and horticultural crops are produced in the State, which also have huge export potentialities. U.P.’s main strength lies in its skilled, educated and hard working workforce. In addition, several historical and cultural places of U.P. makes it one of the preferred tourist place.
Agro-based and Food Processing
Agriculture is the main occupation of 66 per cent of the population of the State. The net cultivated area in the State is 167.50 lakh hectares. Uttar Pradesh is among the largest producers of agricultural commodities within the country. It accounts for about 38% of India’s wheat-production, 20% of paddy, 21% of sugarcane, 34% of groundnut, 17.5% of rape-seed, 8% of fruits and 14% of vegetables. It has the unique distinction of producing 4% of world’s wheat and is the leading producer in India for sugarcane, vegetables and potatoes. It also has the largest livestock population and highest milk production in India, offering excellent opportunities for setting-up various food processing units. Floriculture, mushroom and other horticulture based industries provide exciting prospects.
Information Technology (IT)
Uttar Pradesh has always been a proactive State and today, has become the most sought after IT destination in the country. In U.P. as well as in India, Noida takes the lead as the most preferred IT destination for its year round congenial climate, robust infrastructure, excellent social values, educational institutes of excellence and world class health facility. Under the State’s information technology, provision has been made to computerize all the Government Departments and connect their computers through networking. This helps in ensuring easy availability of information to the people, besides bringing about efficiency and transparency in the Government functioning. In other words, U.P. has become the biggest market for IT and e-governance solutions in India.
Sugar Industry
The State of Uttar Pradesh is the largest producer of sugarcane in the country. Sugar, molasses and bagasse are main derivatives of sugarcane. Molasses is further used for manufacturing industrial alcohol, potable alcohol and other chemicals. Bagasse is used for co-generation of power and paper manufacturing. UP has the potential to produce about 50% of country’s sugar production. At present, there are about 115 sugar mills operational in the State. Considering the importance of sugar industry, the State Government has formulated a comprehensive sugar policy to promote investment in this sector.
Minerals
Under the public sector, mining of limestone, magnesite, coal, rock phosphate, dolomite and silicon-sand is carried out. The bulk production of minor and some of the major minerals like limestone, silica-sand, pyrophyllite and diaspore is mostly with the private sector. Important mineral based industries in the State include large cement plants in Sonebhadra.
Tourism
Known for ages for its rich ancient traditions, Uttar Pradesh abounds in places of religious importance. The State is specially known for its cultural centres. It has varied attractions for all kinds of tourists. Important ancient places of pilgrimage are Varanasi, Vindhyachal, Ayodhya, Chitrakoot, Prayag, Naimisharanya, Mathura, Vrindavan, Dewa Sharief, Dargah of Sheikh Saleem Chishti in Fatehpur Sikri, Sarnath, Shravasti, Kushinagar, Sankisa, Kampil, Piprahwa and Kaushambi. Other places of tourist interests are Agra, Ayodhya, Sarnath, Varanasi, Lucknow, Jhansi, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur, Kannauj, Mahoba, Devgarh, Bithur, and Vindhyachal, which have rich treasures of Hindu and Islamic architecture and culture.
Keeping in view ample and abundant prospects of tourism in the State, it has been declared an industry by the Government for providing basic tourist facilities to the people, developing tourist spots and earning foreign exchange.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure development is an area of focus by the State Government. The Government has undertaken several infrastructure projects to attract investment and promote overall development of the State. Infrastructure set up in the State includes roadways, railways, airways, power and telecommunication network.
