LUCKNOW, DEC 14 : Swedish company IKEA, a leader in furniture, home appliances and design has expressed a desire to invest Rs 4,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh, official sources said here on Wednesday.

The sources said that investors from countries like Belgium, the UAE, Canada and the US are coming up with investment offers in many sectors including logistics and cargo, agriculture, tourism, infrastructure and renewable energy ahead of the Global Investors Summit (GIS), which is scheduled to be held in Lucknow in February next year.

It may be noted that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has set a target of investment of Rs 10 lakh crore for the GIS. To achieve this goal, CM Yogi has sent separate teams of his ministers and officers to different countries of the world to hold roadshows and one on one meetings with the investors.

In Belgium, the efforts of the delegation led by Industrial Development Minister Nand Gopal Gupta, Nandi and Public Works (PWD) Minister Jitin Prasad paid off and an MoU worth Rs 200 crore was signed with Gemini Corporation.

The Industrial Development Minister himself shared this information through a tweet. In his tweet, he wrote that an MoU was signed with Gemini Corporation, which has been recycling 2 billion kilograms of plastic, paper, tyres, metal and wood annually since 1989, to set up a recycling plant with a capacity of 300 tons of plastic per day in Varanasi at the cost of Rs 200 crore.

The directors of Gemini Corporation Ved Prakash Lata, Vishnu Agarwal, Pawan Birla, Vivek Begwani were present at the signing ceremony. Additional Chief Secretary Navneet Sehgal was also present on behalf of the delegation of UP.

The delegation also met the management of IKEA, a leading company in furniture and home appliances and design, in Stockholm, Sweden, along with embassy officials on Wednesday. The company’s Global Expansion Head Jan Christensen expressed a desire to invest Rs 4,000 crore.

With this investment, the company will open retail stores and luxury malls in UP. On this occasion, apart from the company’s unit going to be set up in Noida, their future investment plans were discussed.

Earlier, the delegation met the Secretary General of Flanders, Julie Benens and discussed with him investment of Belgian businesses in the state. The delegation also visited the campus of Swedish Environmental Research Institute IVL and discussed cooperation for successful transition to sustainable environment in the state through solid waste management and water treatment in coordination with Jal Nigam and other departments.

The delegation led by MSME Minister Rakesh Sachan in UAE has received 25 letters of intent worth Rs 20,340 crore. Through this investment, 27,000 new employment opportunities will be created in the state.

The delegation also met the representatives of DP World. DP World representatives agreed to invest in a joint venture in the logistics and cargo sector at Dadri in UP. He also shared with the delegation the need for land near Kanpur with highway and railway connectivity, so that a large logistics plant could be set up.

Under the joint venture, 2,000 acres of land will be required. Earlier this delegation had met Lulu International Group Chairman Yusuf Ali and other entrepreneurs and invited them to the GIS.

A delegation led led by Vidhan Sabha Speaker Satish Mahana and Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Minister Dharampal Singh met JMQ Global’s Chief Mentor and Co-Founder Hilmi Qureshi in Montreal.

During this roundtable meeting, investment possibilities and plans were also discussed. On this occasion, Hilmi Qureshi expressed her desire to invest in health technology. The delegation also discussed possibilities of partnership with the company in areas such as Health, AI, IT and ITES technology.

The delegation also met Eric Krypton, Director of CDPQ. He expressed his desire to invest in renewable energy and highway infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh. The delegation also discussed possibilities of partnership in areas such as pension funds and finance.

The delegation also met Fan Camp Exploration’s CEO and CIO Rajesh Sharma. Rajesh Sharma, who belongs to UP, discussed investment in the field of mineral exploration and energy reduction.

Similarly, Pierre Sean Yun, Bombardier’s Vice President of Government Affairs expressed his desire to invest in Defence and Aerospace whereas Jim Integrated Shipping Service Co’s President Steve M Fielder showed his willingness to invest in logistics and supply.

In Vancouver, the delegation met several investors including among others Pankaj Agarwal, Founder and MD, Optimus Information Inc. They discussed about partnership in Data Center, Healthcare, Food Processing, IT, ITES, Defense and Aerospace.

Meanwhile, an MoU was also signed between Invest UP and Canada India Global Forum on promotion of GIS. Similarly, an MoU was also signed with the Indo Canada Ottawa Business Chamber. It will send a group of investors for the summit.(UNI)