Rajnath reviews progress of defence corridor in UP, asks to complete work in time

LUCKNOW: The Centre on Monday asked the UP government to expedite land acquisition for its flagship defence industrial corridor that is expected to come up on more than 5,000 hectares even as state government officials said more than Rs 3,700 crore worth of defence investments have been announced in the state.
Union defence minister Rajnath Singh held a review of the MoUs signed with the state's defence industrial corridor through video conferencing and said that the cabinet note of the new defence policy was ready and will be released in September. He asked the officials in charge to maintain regular contact with investors and ensure speedy redressal of issues faced by them as well as speed up acquisition of land in Lucknow and Agra.

The planned corridor that will help the state realise its vision of becoming a defence manufacturing hub, is coming up along six nodes –– Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Chitrakut, Kanpur and Lucknow. UP’s chief secretary RK Tiwari told Singh that 1,310 hectare or 90% of the total land assigned for the project has been acquired by investors for manufacturing. While land parcels have been assigned and acquired in Aligarh, Jhansi, Chitrakut and Kanpur in the first phase, in Agra the government is exploring land outside the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) while in Lucknow, land around the Ring Road is being considered, Tiwari said.

Ordinance, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bharat Electronics (BEL), PTC Industries, Bharat Forge and MKU have announced investments in the state. In Aligarh, 100% of the assigned land for the corridor has been acquired, pulling in investment of Rs 400 crore.

Recently, the Indian Navy had also signed an MoU with the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) for setting up a Centre of Excellence along the defence corridor to promote research and innovation.