Uttar Pradesh has a big presence at the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, where the state is looking for potential investors and reaching out to heads of states and senior leaders to talk about opportunities in the Indian heartland .
Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh, who is in Davos, told NDTV that many officials and leaders are “shocked” to hear of the sheer scale of the Maha Kumbh in the high Alps of Switzerland.
Referring to the elaborate arrangements made by the authorities to ensure the best experience for tourists and devotees in UP’s Prayagraj, Mr Singh said, “They are shocked. Like around 400 million tourists at one place within 45 days on 10,000 acres of land.” But comes.” ,
The top bureaucrat said UP has specific advantages in certain sectors which investors find attractive.
“It is a matter of geographical advantage which we are trying to exploit here. The companies we met are from the food processing sector like PepsiCo, Coca-Cola Company, Heineken and Carlsberg… Two-three of them have made offers to set up plants, while some of them have given requests for expansion of their plants,” Mr Kumar said.
data centers
Mr Kumar highlighted Noida and Greater Noida as areas where data centers are opening on a large scale, adding that he has discussed it with two-three companies. He said, the next meeting was with IT companies.
“We also had a meeting with Singapore President Tharman (Shanmugaratnam) on water and how cities can be made more livable with proper water supply and sewage treatment,” Mr Kumar said.
AI in agriculture
Along with Artificial Intelligence, a big area of discussion also came ready in Davos, Uttar Pradesh. Mr Kumar said the state was looking at harnessing the power of AI in agriculture.
“Agriculture predominates here. I often say that while in the world 10 per cent of the land is cultivated, in India 45 per cent of the land is cultivated. Whereas in UP, 75 per cent of the land is cultivated.” Only 21 per cent of agriculture in the world is done with irrigation, whereas in India it is 55 per cent,” Mr Kumar told NDTV.
“But you won’t believe, this data in UP is 86 per cent, that is, 86 per cent of farming in UP is irrigated agriculture. In all this, if we want to use water efficiently, we have to depend on sensors, internet and things. (IoT), and so AI has huge applications,” he said.
Mr Kumar said that UP is working on how to digitalize agriculture and help farmers.
“For AI, we have a center of excellence at Gautam Buddha University, which was approved by the Chief Minister last year with a budget of Rs 50 crore. We have MoUs with Microsoft, HCL and Samson, and we are partnering with ETH Zurich are in talks with,” Mr Kumar said.
The five-day meeting that began on Monday in Davos is exploring ways to restart growth, harness new technologies and strengthen social and economic resilience, according to the World Economic Forum. Nearly 3,000 leaders from more than 130 countries are participating in the global meeting, including 350 government leaders.
India’s participation in Davos aims to strengthen partnerships, attract investments and position the country as a global leader in sustainable development and technological innovation. India sent five Union Ministers, three Chief Ministers and ministers from several other states to the WEF this time.