Union Cabinet bats for state
Union Cabinet ministers continued to dominate the second and final day of the Uttar Pradesh investors’ summit, most of them praising Chief Minister Adtiyanath for the improved law and order situation in the state.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced the setting up of a coach-refurbishment factory in the drought-prone region of Bundelkhand and a rail ancillary park in Fatehpur. He said the capacity of the Rae Bareli coach factory would be tripled in the next three years.
“We shall produce 1,000 coaches next year, 2,000 the year after, and 3,000 in the third year,” Goyal said, adding that the Dudhwa-Lakhimpur metre gauge would be converted in to a “heritage line”.
Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley said the infrastructure of about
15-20 cities would be improved in the next five years. “Investors like to invest in a state that is corruption-free and has good law and order. In the past 11 months, the
Adtiyanath government has proved its capability in this,” Jaitley said.
This is the first time the PM and his Cabinet have attended any state investor summit, including those organised by Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) governments. Uttar Pradesh is a key state for the BJP, as it has the maximum Lok
Sabha seats (80).
Defence Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman echoed her colleagues.
She said Uttar Pradesh could contribute in reducing India’s arms import bill on the back of the proposed defence manufacturing corridor in Bundelkhand.
“The state always had strong fundamentals in the sector. Now, it needs the integration of the industry with the government so that our arms import bill can be substituted with domestic production as much as we can,” Sitharaman said. Uttar Pradesh has a vast defence manufacturing base in Kanpur, with six public sector units. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who praised the Uttar Pradesh government for its initiatives for civil aviation and increased number of passengers from the state, however, asked the state government to work towards widening the base for air traffic. “The base is currently low and it needs widening,” Raju said.