The roads are cleaner than ever. The street lights are shining. The dividers are having flower pots now. The Shaheed Path has a special graffiti section. The fountains are functional once again. The traffic lights have also served the purpose. And finally, the entire police force was on the streets of Lucknow.
Confused? Anybody would be. We had never seen such a beautiful face of Lucknow city before. Such cleanliness, discipline, and organization never prevailed in the Nawabi sheher. Dust particles and riders without a helmet were nowhere to be seen. Everything was perfect.
The drastic transformation that shook the dwellers of Lucknow was a part of the grand preparations of UP Investor Summit 2018. For the two day event that took place on 21st and 22nd February 2018, the UP State Government had spent Rs 70 crore on just the beautification of the city.
And why wouldn't they? PM Modi, CM Yogi, President Kovind and several other dignitaries including Raj Nath Singh, Mukesh Ambani, N. Chandrasekaran, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Subhash Chandra, Anand Mahindra were to come down for the event.
Three development wings of UP Government - LDA (Lucknow Development Authority), LMC (Lucknow Municipal Corporation) and PWD (Public Works Department) were working diligently to make Lucknow look like a metro city. Foreign delegates should not feel like they came to some village after all!
Everything was renovated to meet the standards of the metro city. The roads, the monuments, the parks, the highways, the street lights, the security, the functionality, everything was exceptional. It has made the Lucknowites have higher expectations from the UP Government regarding the continued maintenance of everything
Also, the remodeling of places like IGP (Indira Gandhi Pratishthan), so that it attracts more people and tourists. We have Sangeet Natak Academy and Lohia Park Amphitheatre also waiting for such a renovation. Maybe Modi Ji needs to visit Lucknow again for that.
In this Investor Summit, foreign delegates from Japan and China were also present. If we look at the hospitality that India has provided them, the editing of Lucknow's picture is a very small thing. We need to be more beautiful on a global forefront if we have to attract investment from them.
Nevertheless, the outcome of the 2018 UP Investor Summit is huge. Jio has already announced to make an investment of 10 thousand crores in coming 3 years in Uttar Pradesh. Gautam Adani group is also ready to invest Rs 35 thousand crore in multi-model logistics.
Aditya Birla Group is not behind. They will invest Rs 25 thousand crores in the fields of finance, cement, and chemical, in the coming years in Uttar Pradesh. PM Modi announced an investment of 20 thousand crores to extend Uttar Pradesh’s defense corridor to Agra, Allahabad, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi, and Chitrakoot.
Even TCS is held back to continue operations in Lucknow. The Uttar Pradesh Investors' Summit 2018 proved to be a boon for many dwellers in north India. The beautification of Lucknow and efforts to attract investment did not go waste.
We finally have some hope alive from UP Government. We can expect an overall reformation, a reincarnation of UP after such huge investments, with jobs, tourism opportunities, and rapid industrialization. The 22 crore people of UP are all hopeful.
Are you?