Many companies had pledged to invest crores of rupees at Yogi Adityanath government's Investor Summit
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's government has distanced itself from claims of a Korean company that was seen as a big player in the Uttar Pradesh Investor Summit last month and had later announced plans to invest Rs 90,000 crores in Uttar Pradesh.
The little-known Korean firm called Worldbestech Co Ltd had made headlines in the days after the summit for its massive investment plans in the state's power, food processing and cold storage sectors.
KK Kim, the firm's CEO and President also had a follow-up meeting with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath,
according to a report by news agency Press Trust of India.
But when NDTV decided to check out the credentials of the firm, it threw up some surprises.
The website of Worldbestech describes it as a Seoul-based firm that specialises in manufacturing of cooling systems. It also lists companies such as Hyundai Motors, Kia Motors and Daewoo Motors among its clients. There were no details of its financial capacity on the website.
A site for Korean businesses called EC21.com, however, has some details about Worldbestech Co.
It says the company was incorporated in the year 2000, and presently has 11-50 employees. The annual revenue: between $1 million - $ 2 million.
This comes to around Rs 6.5 to Rs 13 crore, a fraction (0.01%) of the Rs 90,000 crore that it had "planned" to invest in Uttar Pradesh.
When NDTV tried to call their offices in Seoul, no one picked up the calls and it went to voice mail.
Worldbestech Co. Ltd is not new to India. It made an entry in 2007 with an Indian subsidiary based in Pune. According to the fillings with the Registrar of Companies, the Korean company appears to have had a legal battle with its Indian counterpart about Rs 14 crores or so.
NDTV tried to contact the Indian company but to no avail.
When NDTV reached out to the Uttar Pradesh government about the company's plans, the government initially appeared reluctant to talk about this company's ability to make the mega investment.
Finally, the state government officials insisted that the government didn't have an investment pledge from this company on paper.
"We have not signed any MoU with a Korean company for Rs 90,000 crore. The biggest MoU that has been signed is for Rs 36,000 crore with the Adani Group," Satish Mahana, Minister of Industrial Development. told NDTV.