Modi launches 81 projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore for UP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched 81 investment projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore for Uttar Pradesh at an event in Lucknow. Lauding the Uttar Pradesh government and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the PM called it an 'unimaginable achievement'. The projects aim to promote industrialisation and attracting investment in the country's most populous state.

This ceremony, the first yet by the state government, will be held to implement 80 of the 1,045 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed at the Uttar Pradesh Investors' Summit organised earlier this year.

Speaking at the event Modi said,'It is for the second time in the last 5 months that I am meeting my industrial friends in Lucknow. Last time we met for UP Investors Summit in February. I am elated that a huge step is being taken to deliver the promises made there on the ground.

''People are calling this event a ground-breaking ceremony. But I call this a record-breaking ceremony. The manner in which development works have been carried out in such a short span of time & old methods have been changed, was never seen before in Uttar Pradesh,'' Modi said in Lucknow.

PM further said,''These projects will prove to be a big step in giving a new direction to Digital India and Make in India. Be it setting up of fiber or establishment of IT center for internet service in Uttar Pradesh, digital infrastructure will give a new direction, new pace to the state.''

''In past three years, Rs 50,000 cr have been saved in electricity bills because of the LED bulbs were set up in households under Ujala scheme. If I had announced a concession of this amount, 'Wah Wah Modi' would have been the headlines for a week,'' Modi said.

''Rs 50,000 cr have been saved due to Ujala scheme under which LED bulbs were set up in households. Had I announced a concession of this amount, "Wah Wah Modi" would have been the headline,'' PM said.

The prime minister will visit an exhibition on Flagship Missions of Urban Development. He will interact with 35 beneficiaries of PMAY (U), one from each state or union territory, the statement said.

The visit is the latest in a series of trips by the prime minister to Uttar Pradesh, as the ruling BJP prepares for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. A week ago, Narendra Modi was in Shahjahanpur to address a farmers rally. In the recent past, he has also been to Varanasi, Azamgarh, Mirzapur and Sant Kabir Nagar.