Flipkart CEO sees UP becoming India's first trillion-dollar state economy

Lucknow: Projects that formed part of the second Ground Breaking Ceremony will help in Uttar Pradesh's quest to be first trillion-dollar state economy in India, Flipkart Group Chief Executive Officer Kalyan Krishnamurthy said here Sunday.

"The groundbreaking ceremony will play a key role in propelling Uttar Pradesh as an industrial and innovation hub in the country and help in the state's quest to be India's first trillion-dollar state economy," he said on the sidelines of the event for groundbreaking of industrial projects worth around Rs 65,000 crore, for which memoranda of understanding were signed during the UP Investors' Summit last year.

Krishnamurthy also said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's "vision and enabling initiatives will boost investor confidence in the state" as ease of doing business is expected to improve.

"UP is an important state for us at Flipkart. We not only have many sellers and local MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) manufacturers who are accessing the nationwide market to sell their products more efficiently and in a cost effective way, but we are also encouraging local handicrafts to market their products.

"Thousands of artisans, small businesses and women entrepreneurs are finding partnership with Flipkart beneficial as they grow and connect with a pan-India market," he said.

Using homegrown technology and innovation, Flipkart is proud of making a difference in the lives of millions of people, he said, adding that through Myntra, a fashion platform, "we are excited to give market access to artisans/weavers across the state".

Krishnamurthy lauded the chief minister's efforts to partner with the industry to drive inclusive growth in the state.

"We are looking forward to partner with UP as we bring in the next 200-300 million customers to experience e-commerce and connect lakhs of MSME suppliers, small farmers and farmer-producer organisations to the marketplace while creating lakhs of new livelihood opportunities," the Flipkart Group CEO added.

Flipkart, which was acquired by the US retail firm Walmart last year, is equally keen on promoting MSMEs and one district one product (ODOP) in Uttar Pradesh, its Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Rajneesh Kumar told PTI.

The ODOP project is one of the key initiatives of the Adityanath government which seeks to promote traditional industries synonymous with their respective districts to spur the local economy and create jobs, Kumar said.

There are specific products in Uttar Pradesh that are found nowhere else, such as ancient and nutritious 'Kala namak' rice, the rare and intriguing wheat-stalk craft, world-famous chikankari, zari-zardozi work on clothes, and also the exquisite Banarasi silk work.

The state government during the investor meet in February 2018 had signed 1,047 initial agreements entailing proposed investment of Rs 4.68 lakh crore by private and public sector companies.

The state in July last year organised the first ground-breaking ceremony to mark the launch of industrial proposals worth Rs 60,000 crore.