Toronto: Pitching Uttar Pradesh as the engine of India’s growth, a high-level Uttar Pradesh delegation in Toronto wooed investors to the state’s Global Investors Summit 2023 in February.

The Yogi Adityanath government, which is aiming to attract over Rs 10 lakh crore from investors, has sent delegations to 17 countries to woo investors. Around 10,000 investors are expected to attend the three-day summit in Lucknow from February 10 to 12.

At a dinner hosted in December for the visiting delegation, led by Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana and comprising Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Dharampal Singh Saini, Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra, Invest UP CEO Abhishek Prakash and others, the Canada India Foundation signed an MoU with Uttar Pradesh to facilitate investment from Canada.

Welcoming the delegation, Canada India Foundation chairman Satish Thakkar promised that Indo-Canadian investors were eager to explore opportunities offered at the state investor summit. Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra said Uttar Pradesh has become the fastest growing state in India as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has embarked on a mission to make the state a trillion-dollar economy in the next five years by quadrupling its GDP.

“UP’s current growth rate is eight per cent and it will soon hit double digits. The investor summit is part of the chief minister’s plan to fasten the growth,” said the state chief secretary who is credited with the creation of the OCI card during his stint at the Centre.

Mishra said the state has been transformed into the expressway state of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mission of reform, perform and transform. Thanks to its new six expressways, corridors, and airports, the chief secretary said, the state offers top-notch infrastructure and smooth connectivity for businesses, making the state the logistic hub of India.

Mishra also touched upon the upcoming defence production corridor, new proposed airports and expressways and the one-district-one-product concept as part of the Yogi Adityanath government’s mission to transform the state.