New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit 2023 ended on Sunday with nearly Rs 35.5 lakh crore in proposed investments received – double the revised target of Rs 17.3 lakh crore – with the total number of MoUs (memorandum of understanding) inked being over 19,000.
As per the data released, of the total number of LOIs (Letters of Intent), over 17,000 were issued by entities in the Rs 0-100 crore range, apart from those in the Rs 2,000 crore and above range. Apart from the 203 commitments by the UP Govt.
A ‘letter of intent’ is the initial document that seals a partnership between two interested parties on an investment. This is followed by due diligence after which both the parties negotiate a purchase agreement to make the deal a reality.
The renewable energy sector received the most investments, with an estimated Rs 4.4 lakh crore invested through 144 LOIs – close to 15 per cent of the total investment. Electronics manufacturing sector stood second with 151 LOIs worth an estimated Rs 3.5 lakh crore.
Experts believe that the inclination of investors towards the renewable energy sector is no surprise, as states need to align themselves with the central government’s push for domestic manufacturing businesses.
With over 7,000 LOIs, the manufacturing sector received the highest number of commitments, followed by textiles and dairy with a combined kitty of a little over 1,000 LOIs. In comparison, the power generation sector received six commitments worth an estimated Rs 53,000 crore.
Hong Kong with a total of 16 MoUs in sectors such as manufacturing, electronics, textiles, EVs and medical devices Tauschen Group of Companies Was the most promising investor at the summit. The group promised to invest close to Rs 1.8 lakh crore in Noida, Mirzapur, Agra, Lucknow and Varanasi.
RG Strategies Group The summit was the second largest investor, signing seven MoUs worth around Rs 1.7 lakh crore in sectors such as renewable energy, EVs and manufacturing. The company is likely to set up base in Bulandshahr, Gorakhpur, Noida and Ghaziabad.
followed by Imperia Innovation Investment (Austin Consulting Group), a US-based venture capital firm, signed two MoUs worth around Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the education and infrastructure sectors. Lakhimpur Kheri and Noida are its preferred places for business. Austin Consulting Group was embroiled in a controversy last December, following which the UP government had to issue a the explanation With regard to the $42 billion MoU signed with the conglomerate to build a knowledge smart city.
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Emphasis on renewable energy in Global Investors Summit
Vibhuti Garg, director (South Asia) at the Cleveland-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), told ThePrint, “I would say renewable energy is the future and there is a huge scope because the government now wants to push domestic manufacturing. . ,
Garg pointed out that apart from looking at renewable energy from a generational perspective, “the entire value chain is being looked at as having the potential to create more green jobs in the country”.
“And also from energy security point of view, we want to reduce import dependence because till now we were importing more than 80 per cent modules from China, but now, through PLI (Production Linked Incentive) schemes, the government is Trying to promote domestic manufacturing and states can play a big role. And I think this is where UP wants to invite maximum investment.
Another perspective revolves around India’s revised ‘Nationally Determined Contribution‘ (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
According to Binit Das, deputy program manager for renewable energy at the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based think tank, “The recent push towards renewable energy sector investment is largely attributable to India’s revised NDCs, which broadly But it represents the framework for India’s energy transition for 2021-2030”.
“By 2030, the country committed to produce 50 percent of its total installed electric power from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources (renewable energy including hydropower),” he said.
Das, however, also said that achieving these targets is a “considerable challenge” given the restrictions companies face in capacity building. “Achieving the target of 450 GW (gigawatts) of renewable energy by 2030 is a major challenge given that we lack indigenous manufacturing capacity for renewable energy components,” he said.
regional distribution
Western UP locked 45 percent of the total investment in different sectors of Uttar Pradesh till and during the Global Investors Summit 2023. Gautam Buddha Nagar, Agra, Ghaziabad, Shahjahanpur and Bareilly are expected to come from this area. To receive an investment of about Rs 12 lakh crore.
Next was eastern UP – which includes both Varanasi and Gorakhpur, the Lok Sabha constituencies of PM Narendra Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath respectively – with 29 per cent, followed by Bundelkhand and central UP at 13 per cent. Varanasi is locked in investment proposals worth about Rs 1.3 lakh crore, which is about 4.75 per cent of the total. Gorakhpur, on the other hand, received 328 LOIs and investment proposals worth around Rs 1.7 lakh crore.
Among districts, Gautam Buddha Nagar – which includes Noida, among other cities – received the most investments, garnering 27.16 per cent of the total commitments. This was the second year in a row that Gautam Buddha Nagar witnessed the highest investment. Agra, Lucknow and Gorakhpur came second with 7.5 per cent, 6.7 per cent and 5.9 per cent respectively.
The three-day Global Investors Summit 2023 was organized from 10 to 12 February in Lucknow. The event concluded on Sunday with an address by President Draupadi Murmu, who said that UP “Saksham (enabled) and ready (Ready)” to “play the role of India’s growth engine”.
(Editing by Amritansh Arora)
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