After ease, UP focusing on speed of doing biz: Singh

Lucknow: After achieving top position in ease of doing business, Uttar Pradesh is now focusing on speed of doing business, said chief executive officer of the Uttar Pradesh State Transformation Commission Manoj Kumar Singh."The state is entering the next phase of reforms with focus on faster clearances and time-bound delivery," Singh said, delivering keynote address at UP Transformation Dialogue on Friday.
He said it was heartening to see how UP was catching up with some of the global trends defining the modern-day world."One of them is the shift from multilateralism towards protectionism and bilateral trade arrangements. India signing trade deals with the European Union is an example of this changing global order. The second is the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence and data-driven systems. Data centres are the AI factories of the world. Those who will have these factories will grow," he said.Informing that while India generates nearly 20% of the world's data, it accounts for only around 3% of global data storage capacity, which speaks for the potential in this area."Tapping into this opportunity, the state has earmarked Rs 100 crore in the latest budget to set up data centre clusters," he added.Singh said steps like UP's decision to build a State Data Authority would fortify its position. "This will help eliminate discrepancies between field-level and paper data, and ensure real-time data availability for better policy decisions," he said.Singh cited numbers to prove UP's transformation over the past eight years. "UP is the only state to triple its budget size — from Rs 3 lakh crore to Rs 12 lakh crore — while doubling per capita income from about USD 600 in 2017 to nearly USD 1,300 now. The state's gross domestic product grew from Rs 17 lakh crore to Rs 30 lakh crore during the same period," he said."The rise in per capita income is significant because it doubled despite an increase in the state's population by 4 crore," he added, pointing to gains in infrastructure, IT and ITeS exports, manufacturing and services. He said the improvement in law and order, streamlined governance processes and policy stability contributed to enhanced investor confidence.He underlined that UP should play on its strengths, which are agriculture and human resources. "UP is uniquely positioned in agriculture, with 75% of its land under cultivation compared to 45% in India and 10% globally. Assured irrigation covers 86% of farmland in UP, against 55% nationally and 21% worldwide, a factor that can significantly help lift farming families out of poverty," he said, adding that the characteristics could make UP a powerhouse of agriculture of the world."To make most of this potential, UP is working to improve crop productivity (which stands at about 40% of the world average). Processing and export agriculture commodities are the other two areas which hold immense potential and are being focused on," he said.Singh highlighted allocations aimed at improving the quality of human resources, particularly through investments to reduce maternal mortality and malnutrition, saying that long-term growth depends on healthier and better-skilled citizens.He reiterated that governance reforms were centred on building trust and efficiency. "The principle of ‘Jan Vishwas' would anchor the next phase of Uttar Pradesh's transformation journey," Singh said.He credited Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for anchoring the change. "UP emerged as an example of what dedicated, visionary and honest leadership can achieve. CM Yogi Adityanath helped in changing perceptions about the state and motivating the workforce to work cohesively towards a shared goal of development. This cohesiveness is something administrative machinery alone cannot deliver," he said.