Not taking anything away from Mumbai: UP CM Yogi Adityanath

UP CM Yogi Adityanath speaks to media persons at Trident Hotel, Nariman Point, on Wednesday. Pic/Atul Kamble

Reacting to allegations that he was trying to hijack Film City from Mumbai by planning to set up one in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said one has to think big and create new things in a competitive world of business and investment to attract investors.

The UP CM was responding to his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray's statement that his government would not allow anyone to take away the state's business in an unfair manner. Thackeray had said that Maharashtra was 'magnetic' enough to attract national and multinational investors.

"We're not taking anything anywhere. Is it like picking a money purse? Mumbai's Film City will work in Mumbai itself. We want to build a new Film City in UP keeping in mind a new environment as per the new requirements of the industry," Adityanath said at a press conference after meeting Bollywood stakeholders and top corporate honchos.

The stability of a government also affects the respective state's investment prospects, said Adityanath, apparently referring to speculations of the Maha Vikas Aghadi being on shaky ground.

He said UP was neither hurting anyone's investment nor hindering anyone's development. "It's not a pick and choose. We held discussions with several producers, directors, actors and other experts related to the film industry in this regard," he said.

"UP has earned the trust of the investors in the past three-and-a-half years. We're working on improving urban infrastructure and extending industrial climate," Adityanath said. Earlier in the day, Adityanath listed the Lucknow Municipal Corporation bonds of Rs 200 crore on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Adityanath's visit to Mumbai created unrest in the ruling parties and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. The women wing of the Nationalist Congress Party held a demonstration in front of the Nariman Point hotel where Adityanath was staying.

Among Bollywood personalities, he met actor Akshay Kumar on Tuesday night, and Rahul Mittra, Subhash Ghai, Boney Kapoor, Bhushan Kumar of T-Series, Jatin Sethi of Zee Studio, Anand Pandit, Baba Azmi, Neeraj Pathak, Randeep Hooda, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Jimmy Shergill, Taran Adarsh, Komal Nahta and Raj Kumar Santoshi on Wednesday.

He also met corporate leaders, including Tata Group Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran and held investment-related discussions with representatives of Mahindra Defence, Adani, L&T and Siemens.

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