Gautam Buddh Nagar could be India’s ‘electronic hub’, says UP Industries minister

Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Satish Mahana said on Thursday Gautam Buddh Nagar is well positioned to become the electronic hub of India like Hyderabad and Bengaluru and assured all support to industries here.

Mahana, the Industrial Development minister, blamed the previous governments in UP and the law and order in the district for the lack of industrialisation.

“Noida for the last few decades was a neglected region as there was no connection with the government. It was said there is no transparency here and because of that it remained a point of criticism despite being an important constituent of the national capital region (NCR),” Mahana told reporters here.

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The minister said the most important change that has appeared is that the ‘parchi system’ (chit system, referring to irregular practices) has ended and now a common man can get work done without any hassle.

“Our aim was to usher in a new era of industrialisation in Uttar Pradesh,” he said, adding that MoUs worth Rs 4.28 lakh crore were signed with various industrialists during the investors summit held in Lucknow in February.

“Within five months, by July 29, we had done the ground breaking (ceremonies) of projects worth Rs 60,000 crore. That means, work on the projects was started. No other state has got such an amount of investment within five months,” he said.

He said the government would do another ground breaking ceremony in December and target more projects.

He said the government “will not tolerate” a situation where industries have to suffer due to any land dispute and development authorities should be ready to offer flexibility in rules and regulations to provide land for setting up industries but only to the level permitted by government policies.

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He said recently around 150 plots were allotted via public lottery after which some big companies including TCS, PayTM, Kent got land in Noida. The government has got an MoU signed with Haier for Rs 3,000 crore, while VIVO has also been allotted land and an agreement would be signed with them soon.

“So, the way earlier Hyderabad and Bengaluru were tagged as electronic hub, I think Gautam Buddh Nagar has now reached a position to hold the first position in that category,” he said.

Asked how does he propose to take this further, Mahana said, “In India we are having approx 126 odd companies, if I remember the exact figure correctly. Out of that 36 are having offices and they are proposing for industrialisation in this area because they feel UP can be an important and preferred destination, potential area.”

“Previously because of law and order situation people did not want to come over here, now we guarantee the industries that I’m sorry to say that there may be small incidents, we cannot ignore it, I want to underline this, and the government is taking cognizance of that and taking action against those people.

The minister held a review meeting on Thursday for projects undertaken and proposed by the Noida authority which includes elevated roads and flyovers, underpasses, hospitals besides other civic amenities-related works.

He lauded the authority’s efforts for creating dust-free zones and vertical gardens to check pollution, and directed the officials to ensure the mechanical sweeping on the roads be done at night so it does not obstruct traffic during the day.

Mahana directed the Noida authority for completion of several projects by March 2019.

He also visited several sites including the upcoming ‘Shilp Haat and Bunkar Bawan’ in Sector 33 and the ‘Command Control Centre’ being developed under the Smart City Project in Sector 94.