About Uttar Pradesh: Tourism, Agriculture, Industries, Economy & Geography

Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in India with a population of ~200 million people. Uttar Pradesh shares its borders with Nepal on the north, the Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh towards the northwest, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan on the west, Madhya Pradesh on the south, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand to the southeast and Bihar in the east.

The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Uttar Pradesh grew at a CAGR of around 10.59 per cent between 2011-12 and 2020-21 to reach Rs 17.91 trillion (US$ 256.30 billion). The Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) grew at a CAGR of around 11.24 per cent between 2011-12 and 2018-19 to reach Rs 13.76 trillion (US$ 190.66 billion).

 Uttar Pradesh is a favoured tourist destination in India due to the location of Taj Mahal, one of the Eight Wonders of the World, in Agra. In 2018, state attracted second highest domestic tourist arrivals in the country with 285 million visiting the state whereas it holds third position in the country in foreign tourist arrivals with over 3.78 million. In February 2018, state government launched a new Tourism policy to attract investments worth Rs 5,000 crore (US$ 772.32 million) every year, to increase domestic tourist footfall by 15 per cent and foreign tourist footfall by 10 per cent.

As of February 2020, Uttar Pradesh had an installed power generation capacity of 26,161.50 MW (comprising 6,218.20 MW under state utilities, 12,837.84 MW under private utilities & 7,105.96 MW under central utilities). Energy requirement in the state was 107,109 million units (MU) between Apr-Jan 2019-20.

Uttar Pradesh is the largest producer of food grains in India and accounted for about 17.83 per cent share in the country’s total food grain output in 2016-17. Food grain production in the state in 2016-17 stood at 49,903.1 thousand tonnes and 51,252.7 thousand tonnes in 2017-18. Major food grains produced in the state include rice, wheat, maize, millet (bajra), gram, pea and lentils.

Pulses production in the state stood at 2,208.0 thousand tonnes in 2017-18 and production of vegetables stood 1,002.64 thousand MT in 2018-19^, the state remains largest producer of vegetables in India.

Owing to the state’s large base of skilled labourers, it has emerged as a key hub for IT and ITeS industries, including software, captive business process outsourcing (BPO) and electronics. The state has become a hub for the semiconductor industry with several major players having their offices and R&D centres in Noida.

As of November 2019, Uttar Pradesh had 20 notified, 13 operational SEZs and 23 formally, approved SEZs. The state offers a wide range of subsidies, policy and fiscal incentives as well as assistance for businesses under the Industrial and Service Sector Investment Policy, 2004 and Infrastructure & Industrial Investment Policy, 2012. The state has well-drafted, sector-specific policies for IT and biotechnology. The new Uttar Pradesh Civil Aviation Promotion Policy 2017 has been brought to promote investments and trade in Uttar Pradesh and will also promote tourism while increased road connectivity along with air connectivity will create more employment avenues.

The state has attracted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflows worth US$ 699 million during the period April 2000 to September 2019, according to data released by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). In 2019, 147 investment intentions worth Rs 16,799 crore (US$ 2.40 billion) were filed in Uttar Pradesh.

Merchandise exports from Uttar Pradesh reached US$ 16.29 billion in 2018-19 and US$ 12.80 billion in April-December 2019.

Key Sectors:

As per Investor Summit 2018, Uttar Pradesh government will focus on key sectors such as IT and ITeS, Dairy, Electronics, Tourism, Manufacturing, Renewable Energy and Agro & Food Processing.

The major factor driving the growth in the manufacturing sector is the availability of robust infrastructure, extensive road network, large pool of talent, and various investments and incentives offered by the state government.

In December 2019, Zurich Airport International got the approval from state cabinet to develop and construct the Jewar Aiport.

In 2018-19, exports of major agriculture commodities from Uttar Pradesh stood at US$ 2.52 billion and reached US$ 1.77 billion during April-December 2019.

Uttar Pradesh accounts for strong demand for fertilisers on account of the high availability of acreage coupled with the large size of the state.

Kumbh Mela that was held in March 2019, witnessed around 24.01 crore people visiting the Sangam city including 10.30 lakh foreign tourists.

Note: ^ - As per 3rd Advance Estimates, ¹Provisional