Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the state government had doubled revenue collection in the state through constant dialogue instead of enforcement.

Addressing a function of the Income Tax department in the presence of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lucknow on Friday, Yogi said that there had been a significant increase in per capita income of the people of the state with the expansion of economic activities and gross state domestic product. He also said that an investment of over Rs 66,000 crore was achieved during the pandemic period.

The chief minister also lauded the achievements of his government in the fields of industrialisation and financial growth and claimed that improvement in law and order and reforms had helped the state scale up to the number two position in the country in the last five years.

“Uttar Pradesh is now one of the most investor-friendly states in the country, where an investor no longer has to worry either about his personal safety and security or that of his investments,” he said.

“The change taking place in Uttar Pradesh in the last five years is clearly visible on the ground. Factors such as improvement in law and order, better reforms and ease of doing business have helped the state attain a leading position as an investor-friendly destination and to drive the country’s economy. During 2015-16, Uttar Pradesh was in the sixth position in the country in terms of the financial system parameters. It has jumped to the "second or third positions" in the last five years,” the chief minister said.

Yogi Adityanath assumed the office of chief minister in March 2017 and election to the most populous state of the country is due in 2022.

“In terms of implementation of Central schemes, Uttar Pradesh was earlier either in the 25th or 30th position but now in respect of at least 44 Central schemes it occupies the number one position. Earlier, we had only two expressways, but now we have five new ones. Uttar Pradesh will soon be the only state in the country with five international airports,” he said.

The chief minister also claimed that the state had set a new export record in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector and recorded exports in the MSME sector worth Rs 1.31 lakh crore.

“In terms of logistics, we are now in sixth place in the country,” he added.