Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami addressed the 'Rising City' programme organised by the News18 group at a hotel in Rudrapur on Friday, 27 June 2026, sharing his perspectives on Uttarakhand's overall development, industrial progress, infrastructure expansion, employment, health, law and order, and good governance.

Context

The 'Rising City' programme is a News18 initiative that convenes discussions around urban growth, investment climate, and governance challenges in Indian cities. Rudrapur, the industrial nerve centre of Udham Singh Nagar district, served as a fitting venue given its standing as one of Uttarakhand's most significant manufacturing and commercial hubs in the Terai belt.

Speaking at the event, CM Dhami covered a broad canvas — from macro-level industrial progress and infrastructure to ground-level concerns such as health services and public safety — signalling a whole-of-government framing ahead of the state's next policy cycle.

Policy Backdrop

Uttarakhand's Industrial Investment and Employment Promotion Policy 2021 set the foundation for attracting manufacturing units to plains districts, with Udham Singh Nagar emerging as a primary beneficiary. The policy targets job creation alongside capital investment, addressing longstanding concerns about youth out-migration from the hill state.

On the infrastructure front, the Char Dham All-Weather Road Project, sanctioned in 2016, remains a flagship connectivity initiative linking religious and tourist destinations across the Himalayas. Successive Uttarakhand administrations have tied infrastructure expansion directly to employment generation and tourism revenue — a linkage CM Dhami has continued to emphasise in public forums.

Law and order has also been a recurring theme for the Dhami government since it took office in 2021, with the administration pointing to enforcement actions and administrative reforms as markers of improved governance.

Stakeholders and Impact

Industrial investors eyeing Uttarakhand's plains districts, particularly those in manufacturing and logistics, are the most immediate audience for signals emerging from such high-profile engagements. Local businesses in and around Rudrapur — which hosts a dense cluster of automotive, pharmaceutical, and consumer-goods units — track chief ministerial statements closely for policy cues.

For ordinary residents of Uttarakhand, the emphasis on health infrastructure and employment carries direct relevance, particularly in semi-urban and rural pockets where access to services remains uneven. The Dhami government's framing of 'suशासन' (sushasan, meaning 'good governance') as a deliverable, rather than merely an aspiration, reflects competitive pressure from neighbouring states vying for the same investment pools.

What's Next

Observers will watch whether the themes articulated at the Rudrapur event translate into concrete announcements — new industrial unit approvals, infrastructure project timelines, or health-sector allocations — in the state's forthcoming budget or the next investor summit. Uttarakhand has periodically held Investors' Summits to convert political messaging into on-ground commitments, and CM Dhami's active participation in media-organised platforms is consistent with that outreach strategy.

The choice of Rudrapur as the venue also underscores the government's intent to spotlight the Terai industrial corridor as a growth engine, even as it balances the ecological and connectivity imperatives of the hill districts. How that dual mandate is operationalised in coming months will be the real test of the agenda outlined at the 'Rising City' event.