'We are eyeing investments of more than UP’s GDP in upcoming Global Investor Summit': CM Yogi Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is gearing up for the state’s next Global Investor Summit scheduled this month. “If we have to change the lives of 25 crore people of UP, if we have to achieve the target set by Prime Minister to make Bharat a $5 trillion economy, Uttar Pradesh has to play its role,” he tells Rahul Joshi in a free-wheeling interview. Adityanath exuded confidence that the state will achieve $1 trillion economy size in the next four years and said that lakhs of youths will get employment opportunities in the next 6 years. He also tackled a volley of questions regarding the timeline of Ram Mandir construction, row over Ramcharit Manas, Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, caste census and Bharatiya Janata Party’s poll prospects in the state. Excerpts from the interview:

I have noticed a prominent shift in the government's attitude in the last few months. Now the government is more focused on economic growth. But when you say you want to take this economy to Rs 80 lakh crore in 4 years, till 2027, what is your roadmap?

Uttar Pradesh has doubled its growth rate under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. GDP and per capita income have also doubled. Modiji had given Uttar Pradesh a target of $1 trillion economy at the time of the first investor summit in February 2018. We started our work but by the time the pandemic struck. Due to the pandemic, many initiatives couldn’t be taken forward. It created impediments in the road of the economy. But now both Uttar Pradesh and the country have left it behind.

If we have to change the lives of 25 crore people of UP, if we have to achieve the target set by Prime Minister to make Bharat a $5 trillion economy, Uttar Pradesh has to play its role. For this, widespread reforms were initiated. Twenty-five sectors were selected and policies were framed for them. Teams were sent to countries and big cities in those countries. I feel satisfaction today that as the date of the summit approaches, we will be able to attract investment proposals to the level of Uttar Pradesh’s GDP. The state does not only offer numerous opportunities in the field of industry but its agriculture also has immense scope. The MSME sector also has full potential and we have no dearth of human resources.

How much investment will you be able to bring? What is your assumption?

As I told you, through this upcoming Global Investor Summit, we will be able to bring investment more than the level of GDP of Uttar Pradesh.

If you want to take the economy to $1 trillion in 4 years, you will have to grow it 4 times, which means at 25 percent per annum, from 6-7 percent right now. In near future too, it has been projected that the country can achieve a growth rate of 7-8 percent if the reforms continue as usual. So how would Uttar Pradesh achieve this breakout growth?

Uttar Pradesh has been growing at a rate of 13-14 percent. If you discount it against the slowdown across the world, even then we have an 8 percent growth rate. I believe that industry is not the only sector in Uttar Pradesh which promises investment opportunities. The state has other options too. For example, we have the most fertile land in the country. UP grows 20 percent of food crops from 11 percent of land in the country. My view is that if we put in a little more effort, we can push the present growth rate of 8.5 percent in agriculture to double digit. The impact of the efforts made by the central government in the last 9 years and the state government in the last 6 years in this direction will be visible in days to come. UP has 96 lakh traditional MSME units. The government has only given little support to them and they have doubled the exports from UP. The infrastructure UP has in road transport, the web of expressways, airports, the only waterway of the country and proximity with NCR are together helping the state in achieving its targets in a timely manner.

How much employment will Uttar Pradesh generate in the next 4 years?

In the last 6 years, we have provided 5 lakh government jobs. We successfully employed 1.61 lakh youth with the help of MSMEs and Vishwakarma Shram Samman. Using Prime Minister Mudra Yojana, Mukhya Mantri Yuva Swarozgar Yojana and many other schemes, we helped around 60 lakh traders and entrepreneurs to achieve economic self-sustenance. This is about the last 6 years. In the next 6 years, I believe lakhs of youths will get employment opportunities here keeping in view the interest shown by industrialists and entrepreneurs from around the globe.

Can you give us figures as to how much employment would the private sector generate as we move towards a $1 trillion economy?

We will announce on February 10 the figures about how much investment we will able to bring on the ground in the next 2 and 4 years and how many youths will get employment. But one thing I can tell you for sure is that the number will be in lakhs.

In 2018-19 you organised an investor summit where many MoUs worth 4.5 lakh crore were signed. How much of it was actually converted into real investment?

I had said even at that time that we would get investment MoUs equal to the state’s annual budget which was Rs 4.28 lakh crore then. We had got investment proposals worth Rs 4.68 lakh crore. And I feel happy that in spite of the pandemic, we successfully brought Rs 4 lakh crore of investment on the ground. Many of those investments have even started production now. In Mathura, PepsiCo’s Rs 1,200 crore unit has started production. Unilever in Hamirpur, Data Centre in Greater Noida, Samsung’s display unit which is the first of its kind in the country – thousands of such units have started their production in UP.

Which sectors do you think will attract most of the investments?

All the 25 sectors that include vehicles, IT & ITMS, food processing, bio-fuel and renewal energy are witnessing interest for investment.

It reminds me of Vibrant Gujarat. Are you inspired by that model? Did you get some input or tips from Modiji?

All the inspiration is from Modiji only. We also share all these issues with other states and review their policies. Which state has done well at what, and then prepare our policies accordingly.

Some things are very important if you want investment to come here, for example, law and order which have improved exponentially in the last 6 years. Ease of doing business is another important issue which includes corruption at lower levels. So are you planning to create any special desk in CMO that any industrialist can approach directly if he or she wants to invest?

The law and order situation in UP has changed the perception of the state before the country and the world. Whoever industrialist is doing MoU with us, has been provided with a single-window platform where he or she would get 350 clearances at one go, without any human intervention. The investor only has to answer the queries asked there. All these facilities have been provided to them online. After the final approval, when the time comes for real work on the ground, they have been provided with a website called ‘Nivesh Sarathi’. Once the investment reaches the ground, the investor automatically is linked to the Incentive Monetary System (IMS). Whenever any state incentive has to go to the investor, it would be automatically done and monitored. We have provided the investors with these three platforms which are entirely free from any human intervention. CMO itself will monitor all these developments.

This time you were planning to go to World Economic Forum. But in the last hour, you changed your plan. Why?

First, there were some elections in other states and by-elections in UP, and then Global Investor Summit and G-20 were scheduled simultaneously. So I couldn’t go there due to my busy schedule here. But I believe that the kind of support UP has got globally is very heart-warming.

Now coming to some issues other than Global Investor Summit, Amit Shahji had told me during the Gujarat elections that book my tickets to go for Ram Lalla’s darshan at Ayodhya on January 1. So will all the people be able to have darshan at Ayodhya after January 1? Are you still sticking to your timeline?

The timeline given for the temple construction is as per the schedule and Ram Lalla will be established in the temple on time. The day when Ram Lalla will get his place in the temple after hundreds of years will be a proud moment for the whole country and the world.

So the darshan will start from January 1?

Whatever programme the Mandir Trust will decide after that, things will happen accordingly.

One debate that has cropped up in the last some time is over Ramcharit Manas. The Opposition has harped on this very aggressively. What is your opinion about it?

Whenever we plan some big-ticket development schemes and programs for Uttar Pradesh, those who never thought of developing the state, who believe in division instead of development, start such gimmicks. Uttar Pradesh is looking forward to Global Investor Summit as well as G-20 Summit as both are an opportunity for Uttar Pradesh to showcase our strength in front of the world. To deviate people’s imagination from development, such activities are being done.

Mayawati has said that Constitution is supreme for us, not Ramcharit Manas. Akhileshji said that Dr Ambedkar is his religion and now he is also saying that he is a shudra. He even wants to ask you this question in House? What is your answer to that?

Whenever this question comes in the House, the answer will be given in the same manner.

Ramcharit Manas is being burnt in Uttar Pradesh which is also the birthplace of Ram. Are going to take severe action against it?

We already have taken action on it. Ramcharit Manas is a pious scripture which binds society into one entity. The society has a perennial faith in Ramcharit Manas. In all the households of North India, Sundar Kand is recited on all auspicious occasions. All those who are part of Sanathan Dharma organise Sundar Kand recitation. In all the villages of North India, Ram Leela (the story of Ram’s life) is played from September last to December beginning. The tradition of organising Ram Leela was started by Tulsidasji. Ram Leela binds the village together. If these people had known the emotional quotient of Ramcharit Manas, they would not have raised such questions. The same Ramcharit Manas has depicted Nishad Raj and Shabari in high esteem.

But this could be a tactic to galvanise backward castes' votes too?

The public of Uttar Pradesh has witnessed several instances of divisive incidents, and due to such incidents, have seen the identity crisis too. The people have time and again rejected these divisive forces, in 2014, in 2017, in 2019 and also in 2022. Whatever they do, there is no scope for them now.

You have talked about various elections. Looking back, BJP won 71 seats in 2014 here. In 2019, it won 63 seats. How many seats do you see in 2024?

The Bharatiya Janata Party will improve on the 2019 tally in 2024 and will give better results here.

Can the party break 2014’s record of 71 seats?

I already said we will give better results from UP.

How do you think this will happen? Just imagine if all the opposition parties come on one platform and file a single united candidate against you. What will happen then?

This has already happened in 2019. UP has seen all these experiments.

There is a demand for a caste census and many states including Bihar have already started work on this. Uttar Pradesh has not done anything in this direction. What is your opinion about that?

Census is done by Bharat Janganana Aayog and not by states. Whatever guidelines they give, the state government will follow.

But do you support the idea?

I already said, whatever the Government of India decides, we will follow it.

Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya has said he supports the idea.

I have not discussed this with him. So I have no idea.

How do you see BJP’s prospects in the upcoming elections of big states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh?

Wherever Bharatiya Janata Party is running governments, these have performed very well. All the social groups have got the benefit of government schemes without any bias or nepotism. Our government in the Centre, the state government with BJP at the helm works not like a meter gauge train but like a bullet train.

What impact do you see from Bharat Jodo Yatra by Rahul Gandhi? He has continuously alleged your party of hate-mongering by saying that he was running ‘a shop of love’ in the ‘market of hate’.

What have they been doing since 1947? Divisive politics in the name of caste, religion, language and region is an exclusive contribution of Congress. So whatever he is propagating is what he has got in legacy. You cannot judge a programme only from the sheer crowd present there. It depends on how the common people have understood the message of the programme. He is free to do whatever he wants as per his party’s agenda. But he should also clarify to the nation what is the objective of this all. Congress may have gained if Rahul Gandhi had given up on his pessimism.

What is your government’s position on Kashi and Mathura?

You can see now Kashi Vishwanath Dham is ready. Kashi has become an attraction for the whole world in its new form. The respected Prime Minister himself represents Kashi. In Mathura, Braj Teerth Vikas Parishad is taking up the development works on the fast track. The government is running programs for the physical development of these places keeping intact their cultural and spiritual character. And this is not only for these two cities. We are working in Vindhyvasini, Sukteerth, Namisharanya, Buddhist circuit, Maharshi Valmiki’s place, Saint Tulsidas’s Rajapur, etc, too.

You want to bring the film industry to UP. But there is some hesitation in Bollywood on the boycott culture and Sunil Shetty had raised this question before you when you visited Mumbai some days ago. What is your view on it?

Any artist or author should be given full respect if he or she has any achievement in his or her name. We respect them all. Uttar Pradesh has even prepared its own policy on films. Today more films are being produced in UP and many programs are being run for that. But yes, film producers should also take care that their content doesn’t insult people’s faith or create unnecessary disputes.

Rahul Joshi: You gave us so much time. You took pain to explain your vision for Uttar Pradesh. Thank you so much. You are now moving from Bulldozer Baba to Big Bull Baba which means you are now moving towards market-driven development. Many thanks for talking to us.