Uttar Pradesh is gearing up for its largest inbound business-travel event of the year: the fourth Uttar Pradesh International Trade Show (UPITS), which opens tomorrow (25–29 September) at the India Expo Centre & Mart in Greater Noida. State MSME Minister Bhupendra Chaudhary told reporters on 24 September that more than 550 hosted buyers from 85 countries have confirmed attendance, alongside 2,400 exhibitors and an estimated 4.5 lakh visitors. The state government has coordinated with India’s Bureau of Immigration (BOI) and the Ministry of External Affairs to fast-track business e-visa clearances for delegates. Dedicated immigration counters will operate at Delhi and Lucknow airports, while a temporary BOI help-desk at the Expo Centre will assist with visa conversions and extensions for urgent B-to-B meetings that exceed the standard 30-day stay. Airlines are adding capacity: IndiGo has scheduled additional late-night rotations between Mumbai and Delhi, and Singapore Airlines has up-gauged its Singapore-Delhi service to accommodate Southeast-Asian buyer groups. Hoteliers along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway report occupancy levels above 90 per cent, with dynamic rates up 25 per cent over last year’s edition. For India Inc., the show offers a one-stop platform to source from the “One District, One Product” clusters, explore UP’s new warehousing policy, and tap into state incentive schemes that reimburse up to 50 per cent of employee relocation costs for export-oriented units. Foreign procurement teams will also test India’s new paperless e-boarding-pass regime at immigration counters, introduced nationwide on 1 September. Travel-risk consultants advise corporates to plan ground transport in advance—Yamuna Expressway will see diversions, and the Greater Noida Industrial Police Zone will enforce vehicle checks within a 5-kilometre security perimeter. Nevertheless, the event underlines India’s growing appeal as a sourcing hub and Uttar Pradesh’s ambition to position itself as the country’s “factory floor” for global supply chains.
Source: The Times of India (PTI feed)
