Lucknow: Union Housing and Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the pace at which India is moving ahead to fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision, the country will become the world's largest economy by 2040 itself.

On the last day of the Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit, a session was held on the topic 'Reimagining Cities as Growth Centers for New Uttar Pradesh'. Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Minister AK Sharma participated in the session.

Addressing the session, Union Minister Puri said, "Our cities are the transformers of our economy. Metro service was started by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Currently, our metro service ranks fifth in the world. Within the next several months, we will rank among the top three in the world based on our current projects."

Praising the UP government, he said, "The development and implementation of schemes in UP have accelerated significantly since Yogi Adityanath took over as Chief Minister of the state in 2017."

Recalling his old association with Lucknow, he said, "I continue to visit the city every second or third month. The previous government had little interest in implementing the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, which was launched by the central government in June 2015. Only 17,000 homes could be developed under the programme since June 2015, that is 17 months, in the largest state in the nation."

He said, "After Yogi Adityanath took over the office in UP in 2017, over 17 lakh houses were built in the next 17 months. These figures are enough to tell the success story of UP. Today, UP is number one in implementing the schemes of the centre."

Puri said, "The way UP CM Yogi Adityanath is working, I have no doubt in saying that UP is fast becoming the growth engine of the Indian economy. The world will soon see this Global Investors Summit's revolutionary impact."

During the session, Urban Development Minister of Uttar Pradesh, AK Sharma said, "I have learned a lot from Hardeep Singh Puri ji, his work regarding urban development is unprecedented. When I was appointed a minister, I understood that cleanliness was central to a city's growth. I thus launched a campaign to clean the city. The campaign used to start at 5 am." he said.

Sharma said this explained the topic of debate re-imagination.

"Numerous people have told me that their house's landmark was a garbage. However, the situation has completely changed today," he said.

(With UNI inputs)