Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Wednesday that the proposed film city in Noida would offer 'world-class' facilities to the entertainment industry. The Chief Minister also said that he is not "stealing" any business from Maharashtra.
Of the many centres of film production across the country, Mumbai, host to the Hindi and Marathi film industry, is the largest. Bollywood, as the industry is called, delivers a high amount of jobs and revenues and is a key component Mumbai's soft power.
'Open competition'
Adityanath, who was on a one-day visit to Mumbai to attract investors, said the setting up of a film city in the state is an "open competition".
"We are not snatching or hindering anyones investments," Adityanath has said, "No one can take anything along. It is not like a purse which gets taken away. This is an open competition. One who can give a safe atmosphere, better facilities - and especially social security - in which one can work without discrimination will get investments."
Yogi's remark apparently came in response to his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray's comment that he will not allow anyone to take business out of Maharashtra.
Ahead of Yogi's visit to the financial capital, ruling Congress in Maharashtra had alleged a conspiracy to snatch away the city's film city to UP, and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had vowed not to allow anybody to "forcibly" take away businesses.
'World-class film city in Noida'
Adityanath said that his government is building a "world-class" film city in Noida, which will be well-connected by road and air with Delhi, Lucknow, Agra etc.
"The new film city will be built on a 1000-acre plot, 6 km from the proposed Noida international greenfield airport in Jewar. It will be connected to Delhi, Mathura-Vrindavan, Agra and state capital Lucknow. The interest shown by the people associated with the film industry is a good sign," he said.
Meeting potential investors and B-wood personas
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also held meetings in Mumbai with companies interested in investing in his state, including N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons, Niranjan Hiranandani, CMD, Hiranandani group, and Baba N. Kalyani of Kalyani Group.
Shortly after, Yogi attended the UP Investors Defence Corridor meeting in Mumbai and interacted with leading industrialists and industry experts.
"We're working towards connecting all 6 nodes of the UP Defence corridor through Expressways," he said.
"I also interacted with companies that are interested in investing or have invested in the defence manufacturing corridor, including Adani Defence, L&T Defence, Mahindra Defence, Hinduja, Seimens etc. Their suggestions have been taken. For the film city, we spoke to personalities from the industry about their requirements," he said.
Improved law and order situation, as well as transparency in administration, has upped investor interest in Uttar Pradesh, Yogi claimed.
Yogi Adityanath also met Bollywood personalities, including Akshay Kumar, Boney Kapoor, Subhash Ghai, Manmohan Shetty and Anand Pandit over the last two days as part of his visit to the financial capital.
200-crore bond of Lucknow Municipal Corporation
Earlier in the day, Yogi presided over an event at Asia's largest stock bourse BSE, where Lucknow Municipal Corporation's recently issued bonds got listed.
The civic body raised Rs 200 crore from investors by selling ten-year paper at the coupon of 8.5 per cent and will be followed by Ghaziabad with a similar offering to investors, the chief minister said.
"Uttar Pradesh has the highest municipal bodies in the country. Nearly 80 million population lives in urban areas. In a bid to provide better infrastructure and facilities, we have listed a bond for Lucknow Municipal Corporation, the first civic body in north India. After Lucknow, we will inspire Ghaziabad to do the same. This move will help bring in transparency and financial discipline in their workings, along with creating healthy competition," he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
