Akhilesh dreams of state becoming next cellphone manufacturing hub

While Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had missed a similar event last year, this time, he spent over two hours interacting with top CEOs and promised to solve all their problems. Akhilesh also ordered the setting up of an apex committee under him to monitor these MoUs on a weekly basis.

While most speakers spoke about the ‘Make in India’ concept of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Akhilesh made it clear that ‘Make in India’ would not be possible without the active participation of states. “Ultimately, the states will turn ‘Make in India’ into a reality,” he said.

“We are working hard to improve infrastructure in the state to attract industry. We have made various provisions in the budget and are ready to give more incentives to the manufacturing sector. I promise that wherever there is an opportunity, UP will take a lead,” he added.
As big private players sought help of the state government to ensure skill development of youth so that they can be accommodated in the upcoming manufacturing facilities, Akhilesh said: “UP is rich when you talk of demographic dividend. In our skill development programme, over 40 lakh youth have already registered. UP also has been a frontrunner in Centre’s initiative to open new accounts and new branches of banks under the Jan Dhan Scheme.”

While Akhilesh inaugurated Rs 517-crore expansion plan of Samsung India Electronics Plant in Noida, Hyun Chil Hong of Samsung India Electronics announced that the company’s latest cellphone — based on Tizen operating system ‘Samsung Z1’ — will be manufactured there. Claiming to be largest private tax payer in UP, Hong said the time has come for not only ‘Make in India’ but also ‘Make in UP’.
In his address, Korean Ambassador Joon-gyu Lee, while tracing his own roots to Ayodhya, said: “It is said that ages ago, a Korean princess made her journey from Ayodhya to Korea. I come from the same clan and thus, in a way, have roots in Uttar Pradesh.”

“Forty years ago, there was no Samsung, no LG… but in the last 40 years, Korea has transformed the electronic manufacturing market. If Korea did it, why not India, which we believe is moving in the right direction,” he added.

Meanwhile, Pankaj Mahindroo, president of Indian Cellular Association (ICA) — which signed MoUs worth Rs 1,000 crore in each of three proposed electronics manufacturing clusters of UP — said: “The ICA, along with Union Electronics and Information Technology Department plans to bring investment of $ 12 billion, which will mean around Rs 72,000 crore as per ‘Vision Document 2020’ for the state.”

In all, seven MOUs worth Rs 5,000 crore were signed with ICA, Electronics Industry Association of India, India Electronics, Semi-Conductor Association, LAVA, SPICE, EON and Pacetel India.