USIBC takes part in business summit in state.
Bureau Report
CHENNAI: Two American companies, Azure Power and Quest Diagnostics, have shown interest in making investments in Uttar Pradesh and expanding their business here at a business summit titled ‘Destination Uttar Pradesh: Investing in the Future’.
A delegation of 39 American companies, which are members of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), took part in the summit organized by the UP government, US-India Business Council (USIBC) and CII in Lucknow, reported The Indian Express.
USIBC chairman Ajay Banga said that various companies have identified food processing, fire security, computers, solar energy and diagnostics sectors as possible areas for making investment in the state. “While Azure Power and Quest Diagnostics are working on a proposal to invest in UP, other firms will hold some more dialogues with the state government in coming days,” Banga said.
Banga said that Quest Diagnostics was working in diagnosis of drug resistant TB. Azure Power works on solar energy and was impressed with the Gujarat model of setting up solar panels on canals to generate power. They could work on a similar idea for UP, which has a network of 80,000 km of canals.
He said that several other companies, including Caterpillar and Oracle, wanted to come back for follow-up meetings with the state government on investment ideas, said Express.
USIBC president Ron Somers invited Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to the US to address their annual meeting in June and interact with more business leaders and tell them about UP.
Banga said this is the first time that such a large delegation of 39 American companies had come to a state other than national capital Delhi and business capital Mumbai.
Yadav said the state government had made efforts to develop an investment-friendly atmosphere. He said that the arrival of such a delegation showed that the efforts of the government were successful, said the Express report.
At the inaugural session, UP government officials showcased the facilities and infrastructure available in the state to help investment. Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani said the state government had come up with several incentives like interest subsidy and infrastructure subsidy to promote investment. Special facilities would be provided for mega projects of more than $100 million investment.