BJP MP questions need for UP Investors’ Summit

PRAYAGRAJ : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Shyama Charan Gupta has questioned the need for the state government’s much-hyped UP Investors Summit held in February this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the meet.

Talking to HT, Gupta, an industrialist-turned-politician, said chief minister Yogi Adityanath should come out with a detailed balance sheet of the expenditure incurred in organising the meet and the benefits reaped by the state in terms of the number of industries set up or the employment generated thereafter.

He said the government would have reaped better results in terms of revenue generation and job creation if 24x7 electricity was provided to existing industries and small-scale manufacturing units. “If the Yogi government had laid stress on reviving sick industries like those in the Naini industrial belt in Prayagraj or other such units in different parts of UP, the unemployment problem in the state would have been solved to a significant extent and the ‘Make in UP’ dream would have been realised,” he said.

Till the state government actually provided 24x7 power supply, instead of merely making promises, no industrial house would set up new units in UP, he said.“My industrial ventures are also suffering due to erratic power supply. I myself am scared that the Switzerlandmade machines that I recently got installed in my flour mill would develop snags due to erratic power cuts and excessive voltage fluctuation. Organising an investors’ meet without assessing the ground reality would not help promote industries in UP,” he added.