Lucknow: It was more than business as usual for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during his four-day visit to Japan and Singapore this week.
By the end of his tour of the two Asian economic giants, he had secured investment agreements worth over Rs 1.5 lakh crore: of this, Rs 90,000 crore was from Japan and Rs 60,000 crore from Singapore.
The memorandums of understanding (MoUs) during his first overseas trip focused on attracting global investment spanned a range of sectors from agricultural machinery, automobile equipment, and semiconductors to data centres, green hydrogen, compressed biogas, logistics and warehousing.
Major Japanese companies that signed MoUs included Kubota Corporation, Spark Minda (in collaboration with Toyo Denso), Japan Aviation Electronics Industry Ltd, and Nagase & Co Ltd.
In business-to-government (B2G) meetings, leading companies such as Suzuki Motor Corporation, Honda Cars India Ltd, Konoike Transport Co. Ltd., Mitsui & Co Ltd, Rapidus Corporation, Marubeni Corporation, Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. Ltd., and MUFG Bank participated, according to government officials.
To boost cooperation in green energy, the state announced the setting up of the Green Hydrogen Centre of Excellence in collaboration with the University of Yamanashi, Yamanashi Hydrogen Company, IIT Kanpur, Harcourt Butler Technical University, IIT BHU and Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology.
The state will also develop a 500-acre ‘Japan City’ in the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) area to create a dedicated industrial hub for Japanese companies.
Dedicated automobile clusters and research and development facilities for original equipment and component manufacturers will also be established.
In addition, the Japan Desk at Invest UP will be strengthened and directly monitored by the Chief Minister’s Office.
Apart from this, state officials said that Japan will assist Uttar Pradesh in technology transfer, skill development, joint ventures and supply-chain integration, especially in the MSME sector.
In Singapore, Team UP reached agreements for extensive cooperation in MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul), cargo hubs, semiconductors, data centers, logistics, skilling and fintech.
Among the major agreements signed in Singapore were three MoUs worth Rs 6,650 crore with Universal Success Group for investments in group housing, a logistics park and a hyperscale data centre in Uttar Pradesh, officials said.
Another firm, Temasek, is also set to invest Rs 1,000 crore in hospital and logistics projects in the state.
Similarly, the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) signed an MoU to invest Rs 2,500 crore in renewable energy, green hydrogen and agri-solar projects. In addition, AVPN Ltd committed Rs 2,727 crore for investments in renewable energy and agrivoltaics.
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Global outreach
The visit focused on attracting foreign capital but went beyond formal agreements.
Yogi Adityanath not only met with top executives of companies keen to invest in the state, but also interacted with key political and institutional leaders during his visit.
In Singapore, he met President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong.
In Tokyo, he held discussions with Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and Ishiguro Norihiko, chairman and CEO of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).
Apart from his official and corporate engagements, the chief minister also interacted with members of the Indian diaspora in both Japan and Singapore, meeting several NRIs during community outreach programmes held alongside the investment events. An 11-member delegation has accompanied him during the visit
In a statement delivered in Singapore, Yogi Adityanath highlighted Uttar Pradesh’s ‘Triple S’ model: Safety, Stability and Speed, describing it as the strongest assurance for investors.
He said the state has emerged not only as a land of possibilities but also as a land of performance.
“In the past nine years, we have created an atmosphere of security in Uttar Pradesh and shown how scale can be effectively combined with skill and speed,” he said.
He added that the state is now recognised not just for technology and trust, but also as a driver of India’s transformation into a new era.
Expressing confidence in the state’s economic trajectory, the chief minister said Uttar Pradesh is poised to take a decisive leap towards becoming a $1-trillion economy within the next three to four years.
He also revealed that the state government proposes to develop a dedicated ‘Singapore City’ near the Noida International Airport at Jewar.
The project is being planned to attract Singapore-based investors seeking a presence in the NCR region, with land earmarked along the Yamuna Expressway to ensure seamless airport connectivity, logistics support and world-class infrastructure.
According to a senior official in the core delegation accompanying the chief minister, the MoUs worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore and investment proposals totaling Rs 2.5 lakh crore secured from Singapore and Japan reflect Uttar Pradesh’s growing stature on the global investment map.
The official described the visit as a decisive and historic step towards the state’s ambition of becoming a $1-trillion economy, significantly strengthening Uttar Pradesh’s international investment profile.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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