Vinod Behl
Real estate, housing, and infrastructure, together with tourism, logistics and warehousing, data centres, and industrial parks, etc, will not only script a new growth story for Uttar Pradesh for realizing its dream of a $ 1 trillion economy, but also power India towards becoming a $5 trillion economy.
The sector-wise share of real estate, housing, industrial parks, logistics, and warehousing stood at 4.32%, 2.41%, 11.35% and 5.52%, respectively. The combined share of real estate, housing and other emerging asset classes of real estate including logistics & warehousing, is almost one-fourth (23.60%) of the total investment proposals of Rs 33.50 trillion. In terms of region-wise investments, western UP topped with a share of 45%, followed by Purvanchal at 29%, and Central UP and Bundelkhand at 15% each. Division-wise, Meerut topped with a share of Rs 9,85,566 crore. The other prominent cities of Lucknow, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Kanpur, Agra, and Ayodhya had a share of Rs 2911468 crore, 1,96,632 crore, 67,563 crore, 80,607 crore, 2,60,947 crore, and 77,547 crore, respectively.
The investment proposals of Mumbai roadshow amounted to Rs 5 lakh crore. These included proposals worth Rs 4.48 lakh crore from US, UK and Canada investors, Rs 1.76 lakh crore from Belgium, Germany and Sweden investors, Rs 26,000 crore from Singapore and Australia investors, Rs 25,000 crore from Japan and South Korea investors, Rs 21,000 crore from UAE, and Rs 10,000 crore from France and Netherlands investors. Among the top Indian investors, Reliance Industries committed Rs 75,000 crore of investments over 4 years in telecom, retail and renewable energy businesses, while Aditya Birla Group committed investment of Rs 25,000 crore over 5 years in cement, metals, chemicals, and renewables, besides financial service businesses.
Good governance, robust law and order situation, thriving business ecosystem with ease of doing business, world-class infrastructure and investor-friendly policies, have all contributed to catapult Uttar Pradesh to a lucrative investment destination of India. There are many other key driving factors: Uttar Pradesh has a strong consumer base. For industrial development, the state offers a consumer base of 2.5 crore. It is emerging as a logistics, data centre, medical and education hub. A pioneer in ease of doing business, Uttar Pradesh has 25 sector-specific policies. For fast-tracking approvals, 3500 compliances have been reduced. It has the largest digital single-window scheme covering 355 services of 29 departments.
Liberal land policies are a great attraction for investors. There is availability of vast tracts of land at cheaper rates and faster land allotment. Land is provided on PPP basis for 35 years with BOOT model for developers of cargo/berthing terminals. There is no need for land-use change from commercial to industrial. Moreover, there is concession of land use conversion for all eligible projects @75%. Uttar Pradesh offers stamp duty concession to investors ranging from 50% to 75% to 100% for storage facilities in different parts of the state. Investors enjoy 60% ground coverage for logistics parks, up to 60% ground coverage for storage facilities and dry ports. There is 100% exemption for dry ports, logistics parks, truckers’ parks, and exemption of development charges for all eligible projects @75%.
Uttar Pradesh has a great locational and connectivity advantage with key infrastructure projects. There are 13 expressways, 400,000 kms of road networks, 16000 km of rail networks, and the largest number of 9 operational airports with 7 more under construction. India’s first inland waterways – the 100 km Haldia-Varanasi waterway - is already operational, and India’s first Rapid Road Transport System (RRTS) between Delhi and Meerut is under construction. The largest Ganga Expressway and Jewar International Airport at Greater Noida are under construction. This airport which will be India’s largest, is being developed not just for passenger traffic but also as a big cargo hub. Informs Durga Shankar Mishra, Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh, “The state of Uttar Pradesh is leading in infrastructure development in terms of road networks, expressways, and metros. The nine operational airports including two international airports are connected to over two dozen national and international destinations.”
Now, with a large number of investment proposals in its kitty, the Uttar Pradesh government is not resting on its laurels. Rather, it is working overtime to implement these proposals. Projects worth Rs 21 trillion have been lined up for launch in the current financial year. Furthermore, the Uttar Pradesh government is readying 635 hectares of land for investors for undertaking urban-centric projects like group housing, shopping centres, logistics, hotels, hospitals, schools, nursing homes etc. An estimated 1500 acres of idle land of defunct textile mills is being arranged. UP Housing and Urban Planning Principal Secretary, Nitin Ramesh Gokarn, had directed various agencies to undertake this exercise. In order to expedite the whole process of materialising investment proposals, several new policies like the New Integrated Township Policy, IT Policy, Solar Energy Policy, Data Centre Policy, and the Electronics Manufacturing Policy have been put in place. A new affordable housing policy is also being planned.
In the backdrop of this investment bonanza, the all-time high Rs 6.9 trillion budget of Uttar Pradesh government for FY 24, with a Rs 55,000 crore outlay for metro rails, roads and expressways, will give a mega push to real estate, which is likely to see an investment of more than Rs 1 lakh crore getting materialised soon.
