To ease the process of setting up and running businesses in the state, the Uttar Pradesh government will soon provide single-window clearance facilities to entrepreneurs, while projects pending approval at the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) head office are expected to be cleared by December 31.

Speaking at The Indian Express Round Table Conference, organised at Radisson Blu in Noida, UPSIDC Managing Director (MD) Amit Ghosh said that after interactions with various stakeholders on the issue of boosting industrial growth in the state, the UPSIDC had taken a series of measures.

“My target is zero pendency of files which have been pending in the office for more than a year. By December 31, there will be no pendency of any files in my office,” he said.

Maintaining that small industries were the worst-affected due to the tedious process of getting multiple approvals, Ghosh said, “We have moved a Cabinet note and it has been approved by the Cabinet that just like for large industries, for MSMEs also there will be common application form, single application form, the small investor will not have to go to 11 departments. He will go only to DIC. We are getting that software change has been done and I hope to roll it out within 72 hours. This is my next target when I go from here. I am jumping the gun, I am announcing it here before it is done. There will be one common application for small industries.”

Addressing an audience of entrepreneurs and government officials, Ghosh provided examples of areas in the state ready to be allotted for industrial development — 179 plots in

Auraiya for the plastics industry, 200-acre multi-nodal logistics park near Kanpur and a food and agro park in Baheri, among others.

“We have excellent land in Kanpur and Allahabad and both these cities are going to be on the Amritsar-Kolkata industrial corridor. I have an offer from the Container Corporation of India to set up a 200-acre multi-nodal logistics park near Kanpur and that is going to be the nucleus of the new integrated manufacturing cluster called Bhaupur in 2,500 acres. That is going to be the new larger Sahibabad, that is how I look at it. This is the way UPSIDC will go. Trans-Ganga city, Saraswati Hi-tech city, integrated manufacturing cluster with residential provision — it was not there earlier — at Bhavpur. Then we are going near Mughalsarai and one place near Khurja — already notified. There are huge investment opportunities plus I have 125 acres ready to give away 28 kilometres away from Pari Chowk in Greater Noida. So, land is available, what we need is serious investment. You tell us what we need there. We will do that. We will help you out in every way,” he said.

In Greater Noida, the process of allotting plots has been made online where investors can choose plots on their screens, know the nature of facilities provided in the area and provide copies of documents for allotment to the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) on their computer screens.

“Online payment gateways have been made available and plots are allotted within 15 days. Our next step in developing this soft infrastructure is to make the system take care of setbacks. There are 25 different services that allottee requires and all of them are online,” said Deepak Aggarwal, Chief Executive Officer, GNIDA.

He added that Greater Noida area would soon have a heliport which will function on a commercial basis. “We have received all clearances and EoIs will be floated soon,” he said.

According to Amit Mohan Prasad, investment commissioner, the state has seen “substantial growth in per capita income and agricultural production” in the last five years. “In agricultural production, there are many areas where UP is No. 1 in the country. In terms of development of manufacturing and industrial growth, Noida-Greater Noida has already emerged as a mobile manufacturing industry hub. There are large attractive opportunities and policies in UP, as well as skilled manpower,” Prasad said.

Sameer Gupta, Chairman and MD of Jakson Group, maintained that while the state possessed the ability to grow, certain issues needed to resolved for attracting business to the state. “In the last four-five years, what has happened in the state for industrial growth is exemplary…but there are concerns about safety and overall law and order which affect investors,” Gupta said.

Raising similar concerns, Jaijit Bhattacharya, Partner, KPMG, said: “Comparing Uttar Pradesh with other states is not right. It is a very large state, it has the ability to grow. It has potential and human resources. It needs to start focusing on multiple aspects. There are three aspects — the ease of doing business, business process reforms and attractiveness of business … Uttar Pradesh will be very attractive to do business, especially post GST (Goods and Services Tax), due to the sheer size of the consumer base. The issues like land use, getting electricity, rural to urban migration and urbanisation of Uttar Pradesh. It is not just an issue of government reforms but also basic infrastructure that needs to be laid out also by the private sectors — like waterways, electricity grids, etc.”

Source: Indian Express

Image Courtesy: DNA