Author: Neha Lalchandani, TNN
Publication: The Times of India
Date: January 6, 2023
URL:      https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/we-are-a-revenue-surplus-up-yogi-adityanath-invites-financers/articleshow/96784715.cms

Addressing bankers and financiers in Mumbai ahead of the first domestic roadshow for the Global Investors' Summit, chief minister Yogi Adityanath invited them to help the state in realising its goal of becoming a USD 1 trillion economy.

Relating his experience with banks right after he was sworn in as CM in his first term, Yogi said that in 2017 the financial condition of the state was extremely poor. "We made some plans and called up the banks, but the credit was so poor that the banks didn't respond. Today I can inform you that everything has changed in UP. Today, we are a revenue surplus state. We have more than doubled our annual budget," the CM said.

The CM said that the government was able to increase the cash deposit ratio from 40% to 53%, but now banks would have to pitch in to take it up to 60% so that UP could emerge as the "growth engine of New India".

Informing the bankers that UP is the fourth largest state in India by size, the CM said that it has the largest population and the maximum number of youth. Over the past six years, he added, the government had developed infrastructure and connectivity through highways, expressways, airports and Metro rail. This work would not have been possible without the cooperation of banks and financial institutions, the CM added.

He requested banking institutions to cooperate with the government to strengthen the MSME sector, agriculture, FPOs, start-ups etc. Tourism was another sector he flagged, saying that the government was developing Ramayana, Mahabharata and Buddhist circuits to promote spiritual and cultural tourism.