Lucknow: About one-third of private investment commitments secured by the Uttar Pradesh government since the BJP first came to power in the state in 2017 are either operational or in various stages of completion, data accessed by ThePrint shows.
Between the investors summit in 2018, and the global investors summit in 2023, UP government signed MoUs with investors to the tune of Rs 37.78 lakh crore. Of these, ground breaking ceremonies (GBCs) have been held for projects worth an estimated Rs 12.10 lakh crore. Government data accessed by ThePrint shows work had begun on projects worth Rs 61,792 crore after the first groundbreaking ceremony in 2018.
For the second GBC (2019), this number rose to Rs 67,202 crore, followed by Rs 80,224 crore in the third GBC (2022). But the biggest leap came in the fourth GBC (2024), after which work began on projects worth an estimated Rs Rs 1,00,105.6 crore.
UP government had received investment commitments of Rs 4.28 lakh crore during the investors summit in 2018, and Rs 33.5 lakh crore during the global investors summit in 2023.
Now, UP government has lined up projects worth an estimated Rs 5 lakh crore ahead of the fifth GBC likely to be attended by PM Narendra Modi sometime in the next two months. “Preparations for the next GBC are underway. So far, projects worth over Rs 12 lakh crore have been implemented on the ground,” UP Invest CEO Vijay Kiran Anand told ThePrint.
Adding, “For the upcoming GBC, we have assigned targets to districts and are closely monitoring their performance. Our current focus is on converting investment MoUs into on-ground realities.”
Professor A.P. Tiwari, former HoD (Economics) at Lucknow’s Shakuntala Mishra National Rehabilitation University, said breaking ground on one-third of the total investment commitments “is not a bad conversion rate, though the process still needs to speed up”.
“During investors summits, many companies sign MoUs, but the actual implementation takes time because several NOCs and government procedures are involved. It often takes years for MoUs to turn into reality, and in some cases, companies withdraw due to local challenges. This is why ground-breaking ceremonies are crucial; they show the real progress happening on the ground,” he explained.
Also Read: Policy reform, shops in malls, surging revenue & hordes of investors: How UP is betting big on booze
Tata, Adani among top players
Data from the Invest UP department shows several major companies successfully converted their MoUs into on-ground projects across different ground breaking ceremonies (GBCs). Key investors in the first GBC included Adani Power, with commitments worth an estimated Rs 2,500 crore, Mobile Open Exchange Cluster (Rs 10,000 crore), TEGNA Electronics (Rs 5,000 crore), and One97 Communications (Rs 3,500 crore).
In the second GBC, leading investors were Vivo Mobiles with commitments worth an estimated Rs 7,429 crore, Haier India (Rs 2,804 crore), and Torrent Gas (Rs 2,751 crore).
During the third GBC, major contributors were NIDP Developers (Rs 9,100 crore), SIFY Technologies (Rs 2,692 crore), and Adani Enterprises (Rs. 2,416 crore).
In the fourth GBC, major commitments included those by Tata Technologies (Rs 4,174 crore), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (Rs 3,450 crore), and Urvashi Infratech (Rs 3,400 crore).
According to a senior Invest UP official, for the fifth GBC, the state’s strategy is not limited to the NCR. The easternmost district, Sonbhadra, for instance, has been allocated projects worth an estimated Rs 20,000 crore, while Mirzapur in eastern UP has been allocated projects worth Rs 26,000 crore. In western UP, Ghaziabad has been allocated projects worth an estimated Rs 20,000 crore.
The official added that in the previous GBC, Ambedkar Nagar stood out with 17 projects worth an estimated Rs 1,800 crore. Smaller districts can meet their targets more easily, whereas NCR districts take more time due to the larger volume of investment proposals, the official said.
In August, the UP government set up an Economic Advisory Group to bring together experts from various industries to guide the state’s economic strategy. Its target is for UP to become a trillion-dollar economy by 2029.
In September, during a visit to his home district of Gorakhpur, CM Yogi Adityanath said, “Today, the best investments from across the country and the world are coming to Uttar Pradesh. As a result, we have been able to provide employment opportunities to over 60 lakh youth in the private sector through new investments.”
State government officials maintain that private investments made in the state between 2017 and now have helped create more than 60 lakh jobs. But the government has yet to share any details about how many jobs were created in each sector.
A senior official from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said the state has introduced 33 sector-specific policies for entrepreneurs and set up digital platforms like Nivesh Mitra—a digital portal to help investors navigate official clearances.
“New textile, leather, plastic, perfume, chemical, and pharma parks are rapidly coming up across Uttar Pradesh. Clusters such as the Hardoi-Kanpur leather hub, the Gorakhpur Plastic Park, and the Kannauj Perfume Park are helping UP emerge as a major industrial hub,” the official told ThePrint, claiming that Uttar Pradesh now has the country’s largest MSME network, with more than 96 lakh active units.
Speaking about the Defence Industrial Corridor announced by PM Modi in 2018, the official said work is progressing quickly across its six nodes: Agra, Aligarh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi, and Chitrakoot. So far, more than 170 MoUs have been signed, bringing investment commitments of more than Rs 28,000 crore with the potential to create 4,600 new jobs.
Another official highlighted that major defence companies like the Adani Group, Werywin Defence, AR Polymer, and BrahMos have already begun operations in the state. Kanpur, for instance, is now producing bulletproof jackets and modern military gear, while Aligarh is developing small arms and radar systems. Another big-ticket project is the BrahMos missile production facility in Lucknow.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
Also Read: Nikant Jain, ‘high-profile tout’ at centre of solar project scandal that got Invest UP CEO suspended