Uttar Pradesh’s additional chief secretary and in-charge of state’s renewable energy and technical education department, Narendra Bhooshan said on Thursday that Uttar Pradesh is the “new growth driver of India.”He was speaking at the TOI Dialogues – Infrastructure Chapter, in his address he highlighted that the energy sector is one area which will be instrumental in achieving the state’s ambition of a $1 trillion economy. He emphasised upon the fact that UP being the country’s most populous state is on the forefront of energy transition and consumption, helping it grow massively in terms of energy demand, value addition, capital investment, job creation and revenue generation. He credited UP CM Adityanath and PM Modi for the transformation.Bhoooshan pointed out the key goals set by the PM, “to achieve VIksit Bharat 2047, at a global level India needs to act as Vishwa Vijeta”, and the panch amrit principle – net zero by 2070, non-fossil fuel based energy capacity of 500GW by 2030, to generate 50 per cent of country energy requirement coming from renewable sources and so on.”He went on to talk about the concerted efforts put in by the UP government in order align itself with the larger goal of the PM and making India a leading economy in the world. The secretary even referred to how the growth in this sector in fact acts as a leverage against the duty imposition such as by the US, as there isn’t any export but self consumption. He also mentioned the “Hindu rate of growth” – referring to the commentary by Raj Krishna, an economist, about the abysmal GDP growth of India in the years following Independence till the 90’s when economy was opened up – he said today we have come a long way from that and now “we grow on an average of 7-8 per cent,” but “in order to achieve PM vision we need to break this as well and perhaps grow at 9-10 per cent.”He termed power sector as the key in achieving that goal and said that UP last year left Maharashtra way behind in peak energy consumption and was on the way to do so this year as well”, with an average growth in sector of 9-11 per cent.In a separate panel discussion on – UP’s holistic approach to sustainability and water security – it discussed the vital steps taken by the government to safeguard states natural resources, and water governance, in order to ensure a brighter future for generations to come.The panel was joined by GS Naveen, UP government secretary of irrigation, and Ganesh Thorat, CEO of Naam Foundation. The panel discussed the challenges faced by the government in order to manage the depleting water levels and shrinking rivers, taking a sustainable route for a “Green and Blue Future” with Uttar Pradesh being a highly agricultural state.They highlighted how the culturally important Tamsa river in Azamgarh was brought back from extreme shrinking to its full flow with the help of targeted community run campaign over the period of two months, against disposing waste in the river and making clean and helping it flow at its full might.The panel also talked about several similar efforts that are underway in order to reach a sustainable future.