Yogi 2.0 to showcase MSME bandwidth at UP Global Investor Summit 2023

UP is setting its sights on Rs 10 trillion in fresh investment from domestic and multinational companies at the high-ticket event

The Yogi Adityanath government 2.0 will showcase the micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) bandwidth of Uttar Pradesh (UP) at the proposed UP Global Investor Summit to be held in January next year.

The state is setting its sights on Rs 10 trillion in fresh investment from domestic and multinational companies at the high-ticket event.

According to estimates, there are about 9 million MSMEs in the state. The MSME sector alone contributes nearly 60 per cent to UP’s annual industrial output, and is the second-largest creator of employment after agriculture and allied activities.

To build momentum, the state will organise roadshows in major countries, including the US, the UK, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Sweden, Singapore, Netherlands, Israel, France, Germany, South Korea, Mauritius, Russia, and Australia.

Detailing the broad strokes of the summit, UP Chief Minister Adityanath has directed top officials to dedicate an entire day to MSMEs to underpin the importance of the sector for job creation and galvanising the state’s socioeconomic growth.

The road map assumes significance in the backdrop of the state seeing itself become a $1-trillion economy.

Meanwhile, the Adityanath government will hold dialogues with Netherlands, Japan, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Mauritius, Thailand, Nepal, Belgium, and Sweden to prevail upon them to sign on as summit ‘partners’.

In fact, a few nations had collaborated with UP as ‘partner nations’ at the summit in 2018, when the state had netted nearly Rs 4.68 trillion in investment proposals. The state has claimed that projects totalling Rs 3 trillion had already been launched.

The state government is also working on a multi-pronged strategy to bolster the state’s MSME sector. It includes facilitating MSMEs to market their products through popular e-commerce platforms like Flipkart and Amazon.

The state negotiates for easier and cheaper working capital loans for its MSMEs, especially under the purview of the one district one product (ODOP) scheme — seen as a transformational step forward towards realising the true potential of a district, fuel economic growth, and generate employment and rural entrepreneurship — from banks and other financial institutions.

ODOP is aimed at reviving and fortifying the traditional and indigenous industries of the state across 75 districts.

With UP setting a target to double merchandise exports to ~3 trillion by 2027, the state government has tied up with Paytm to digitise the MSME landscape.

Last month, the MSME and export promotion department had signed a memorandum of understanding with Paytm parent One97 Communications to offer digital payments and lending solutions to state MSMEs.

The government is looking to more than double MSME exports to Rs 3 trillion in the next five years. Covid-19 pandemic notwithstanding, the state’s merchandise exports had surged 30 per cent to Rs 1.4 trillion in 2021-22.

According to UP Additional Chief Secretary, MSME and export promotion, Navneet Sehgal, ODOP has turned out to be a ‘grand success story’ for the state’s industrial firmament.

“We are leaving no stone unturned to augment the export of the ODOP basket, as well as double the employment and self-employment opportunities in the state,” he observed.