The Uttar Pradesh government is expediting the acquisition of 25,000 hectares of land along major expressway projects for planned industrial development. According to reports from The Times of India, the Uttar Pradesh Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) has already identified about 5,000 hectares, with more than 4,250 hectares already acquired. A senior official stated that district officials have been directed to expedite the process of identifying land parcels for acquisition under the Industrial Manufacturing and Logistics Clusters (IMLC) blueprint.
The land parcels will be used to develop 27 Industrial Manufacturing and Logistics Clusters (IMLCs) across the state. As reported by The Times of India, under the IMLC framework, investors will avail industrial plots at attractive rates, along with proactive policy support, improved road, rail and air connectivity, skilled manpower, and plug-and-play infrastructure. The framework also allows investors to develop industrial parks under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
The project spans multiple districts including Lucknow, Varanasi, Bareilly, Rampur, Sitapur, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad, Bhadohi, Bulandshahar, Mirzapur, Jaunpur, Sonbhadra, Chandauli and Baghpat. According to The Times of India, the Purvanchal, Bundelkhand and Ganga expressways, along with the Gorakhpur Link and Agra-Lucknow expressways, have emerged as vital components of the state's roadmap to economic growth and employment-generation.
The land acquisition process is gaining momentum ahead of the proposed Ground Breaking Ceremony (GBC) 5.0, wherein the state is aiming to launch private investment projects worth ₹8 trillion. As reported by The Times of India, the state's nodal investment agency, Invest UP, has drawn up a list of projects worth ₹6 trillion for the GBC 5.0 launch. The government is confident that the project lineup would expand to ₹8 trillion by the time the dates of the GBC are announced.
The development of IMLCs is expected to boost the Yogi Adityanath government's $1 trillion economy target. According to The Times of India, at the UP Global Investors Summit (GIS) 2023, the state had garnered investment proposals to the tune of ₹40 trillion, of which projects worth ₹12 trillion have been launched through four GBCs so far. The state is also encouraging vertical expansion of industrial units to optimise land use through the development of flatted factories.
