UP to set up 16 centres to boost skill development, employment

Lucknow, Jul 15 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh will establish 16 Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Employment and Industrial Zones (SVPEIZ) in the first phase of an ambitious project aimed at integrating skill development, employment, industry and entrepreneurship on a single platform, a senior official said on Wednesday. The project, announced on the occasion of Uttar Pradesh Diwas earlier this year, will be implemented through a nine-region hub-and-spoke model to create an integrated industrial and skill development network across the state, an official statement said. According to Principal Secretary, MSME, Shashi Bhushan Lal Sushil, the first phase will include five centres developed by the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Department, five by the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority (UPSIDA), two each by the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) and the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), and one each by the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority and the Gorakhpur Industrial Development Authority (GIDA). Sushil said the initiative has been conceived in line with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's vision of equipping the state's youth with industry-relevant skills while directly linking them to employment and self-employment opportunities. He said the nine industrial regions would be developed according to their industrial strengths, available resources and investment potential. The regions include Gautam Buddh Nagar; Ghaziabad, Hapur, Saharanpur, Meerut, Baghpat and Bulandshahr; Moradabad and Bareilly divisions; Agra and Aligarh divisions; Lucknow and Ayodhya divisions; Kanpur and Prayagraj divisions; Chitrakoot, Jhansi and Vindhyachal divisions; Varanasi and Azamgarh divisions; and Gorakhpur, Basti and Devipatan divisions. He said a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) would be constituted for each hub, with the lead investor serving as its chairman to ensure industry participation and efficient project implementation. The official said teams of senior officers had studied industrial and skill development models in Gujarat and Maharashtra before preparing a model suited to Uttar Pradesh, and reputed industrial institutions would be associated with the project's development and operation. Construction will begin immediately at locations where land is available, while land for other centres will be provided through industrial development authorities in a phased manner. Skill development and training programmes will also commence alongside infrastructure creation to ensure the availability of a trained workforce when industries become operational, he added.PTI CDN MR