Lucknow: With the tagline “US in UP", 26 major American companies will interact with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adtiyanath on Monday to explore investment opportunities in the state. “Headed by Boeing, 26 US firms are on their way to Uttar Pradesh to explore investment avenues in the state. The tagline is ‘US in UP’ on the lines of ‘Vibrant Gujarat’," senior cabinet minister Siddharth Nath Singh told PTI here.

The delegation will visit the state under the aegis of US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), Singh, who is UP Health Minister, said. The USISPF is committed to creating the most powerful strategic partnership between the US and India and promoting bilateral trade is an important task, the Forum said. “But, our mission reaches far beyond this. It is about business and government coming together in new ways to create meaningful opportunities that have the power to change the lives of citizens," the USISPF said.

It said in a statement that investment incentives offered by the state under the new chief minister “translates into a business-friendly climate for industry." Singh said taking a cue from ‘Vibrant Gujarat’, the idea of ‘US in UP’ has been mooted to showcase the state’s investment avenues in chemicals, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, cement, gems, textiles and engineering sectors.

He said a small delegation had visited this state two months back and realising the “tremendous investment potential" in the state, a bigger delegation will be travelling to the state on Monday. Singh said the foundation for the high-profile tour was laid when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the United States in June and invited CEOs of top US companies to invest in India, saying GST was a game changer that made the country a business-friendly destination.

UP Chief Secretary Rajive Kumar will brief the delegation on investment opportunities along with the UP Industries Development commissioner and principal secretary for industries. The delegation will make a courtesy call on the chief minister, who is likely to explain the investment incentives offered by the state after BJP stormed to power in UP earlier this year.

Officials from the US Embassy and US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) will also be a part of the delegation, which will include representatives from Facebook, Adobe, Coca Cola, Mastercard, Mosanto, Uber, Honeywell, P&G, Oracle and GE Health, besides Pratt & Whitney, Merck, Medtronic, Azure Power and Cargill.

Uttar Pradesh has recently come up with an Industrial Investment & Employment Promotion Policy to create a framework to stabilise and make existing industries more competitive and to attract and realise new international and national investments in the industrial sector.

A session on healthcare has also been organised to help the US companies like Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp, GE Healthcare and Medtronic to focus on initiatives, programmes and best practices to overcome roadblocks to greater access and affordability for health care services in UP. Merck is an American pharmaceutical company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.

Executives from Mastercard, Azure Power, Cargill and Pratt & Whitney will also discuss technology, innovation and entrepreneurship opportunities with UP functionaries. Besides, USISPF along with UC Berkeley will launch its first co-innovation laboratory in Allahabad, which has been identified under the 100 smart cities mission.

The co-innovation lab initiative will provide local solutions to local problems by roping in young innovators and startups primarily in the areas of energy, transportation, waste management, healthcare, artificial intelligence, climate and smart agriculture, the USISPF said.

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