UP fast-tracks logistics, transport projects in NCR

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Nov 19, 2020

Within a few weeks of signing the concession agreement with Zurich Airport International (ZAI) to develop greenfield Jewar international airport in Greater Noida, the Uttar Pradesh government is fast-tracking logistics and transport projects in the National Capital Region (NCR).

These comprise multimodal logistics hub (MMLH) and multimodal transport hub (MMTH), which constitute the early bird projects of the Dadri-Noida-Ghaziabad Investment Region (DNGIR) in UP.

The multimodal projects will support the proposed Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) in achieving its target of providing an integrated logistic facility for efficient storage/transitioning of goods to/from the UP sub-region of NCR.

UP chief secretary R K Tiwari has directed officials to accelerate the pace of land acquisition for big infra projects in the state, including MMLH, MMTH and Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).

Of the total land requirement of about 479 hectares for MMLH and MMTH, the state has so far taken possession of 365 hectares or more than 75 per cent of the required swathes. The remaining chunk of 114 hectares would be acquired by the Railways and the Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida) district authorities.

Earlier, the state government had transferred 747 acres to the DMIC for the ongoing projects.

The Yogi Adityanath government is counting on these mega infra projects to put UP in the league of major industrialised and exporting regions in India, especially in the backdrop of the state targetting to become the country’s first $1 trillion economy in the coming years.

Together with the operational and under-construction expressway projects in UP viz. Purvanchal Expressway, Bundelkhand Expressway, Gorakhpur Link Expressway, Yamuna Expressway, Agra-Lucknow Expressway and Ganga Expressway, the Jewar international airport and the logics/transport hubs are expected to provide an integrated channel for faster movement of agricultural and industrial products, thus boosting the state’s economy.

Meanwhile, the government has also set up district level export promotion panels in all the 75 districts and they are mandated to prepare their respective action plans for implementation. A third of these action plans have already been approved, while the remaining drafts are likely to be cleared by the end of this month, Tiwari informed.

The state government has also signed agreements with top e-market places, including Amazon and Ebay to provide a digital platform to the state entrepreneurs under the flagship one district, one product (ODOP) scheme.