Noida & Greater Noida Attracted Rs 1.2 Lakh Cr of Investments In One Year: Ritu Maheshwari

Ritu Maheshwari, the CEO of Greater Noida Authority and Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority, recently took over the additional charge as the District Magistrate (DM) of Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida),

The UP cadre IAS officer, who is also the Managing Director of Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC), recently spoke to BW Businessworld about her plans to re-imagine Noida and Greater Noida as global commercial hubs. Here are some edited excerpts from the interview.

How are you trying to re-imagine Noida and Greater Noida? What have been the big steps in this direction?

Noida as we see today is the best planned city in the country and the modern face of Uttar Pradesh.

In 1976 the city was envisioned as a well planned township. Today  it is not only among the most sought after industrial destinations in the country but also the most sought after residential, commercial and educational hub.

From the planning perspective, it has turned out to be impressive on all fronts. Over the next few years,  what we envision to do is to upgrade the infrastructure to much better standards .

So far, it is the best city in terms of liveability and infrastructure in UP, but definitely we need to match up with the rising population and the rising expectations of people.

On the infrastructure front, of late, we have done a lot of work on better connectivity, whether it be to Delhi or Agra or between Noida and Greater Noida, and even within the city.

So upgrading of infrastructure and focusing on better connectivity, water, sewerage, electricity etc are  the few things which we are working on. 

Secondly, on the guidelines of our Hon'ble Chief Minister, the authority and the city particularly are transforming in terms of work culture and the ease of doing business.

In terms of transparency and e-governance also, a lot of efforts have been made and we are trying to scale them further.

Thirdly and most importantly in terms of maintenance and provision of civic services , we are focusing on quality services like cleanliness, more greenery for the residents and better water quality for the city. 

UP has set out a target to contribute One Trillion Dollars to the economy, how has year 2022 been in terms of achieving those numbers?

In terms of numbers in both Noida and Greater Noida, especially in three segments–IT, ITES, Data Centres and Electronics and Mobile Phones, the state is doing really well.

If we see electronics and mobile phone manufacturing share of UP, the state is more than fifty percent of the entire mobile phone manufacturing, and out of this maximum share comes from Noida and Greater Noida.

We are also emerging as the global data centre hub, there are already around eight data centres between the two cities of Noida and Greater Noida and more investments are lined up in that segment.

Both the cities have attracted Rs 1.2 lakh Cr worth of investments in the last one year. Going forward, over the next five years, we are going to see more investments coming from outside India. For this as already said, we are matching the city's infrastructure to global standards.

What are your plans for 2023?

Our big focus is to make UP contribute one trillion dollars to the economy.

In terms of revenue, this (Noida & Greater Noida) is the region that gets maximum revenue for the state and we want to ensure that the target is achieved.

There is also a big focus on the infrastructure part, especially the metro connectivity. We are working on the extension of the already existing metro line and setting up three new metro lines.

With the Jewar airport coming up, which will be the largest airport in the country, plus the growing data centres and the upcoming freight hub, Noida and Greater Noida is set to become the largest commercial hub,  not just in India but across the world.