World Bank blueprint for Uttar Pradesh growth clusters

The World Bank has agreed to prepare a blueprint for the three regional growth clusters proposed in Uttar Pradesh on the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC), Principal Secretary (Industrial and Infrastructure Development) Surya Pratap Singh said Saturday.

The proposed regions are Auraiya-Kannauj-Kanpur, including Kanpur Dehat; Allahabad-Varanasi, including Kaushambi and Sant Ravidas Nagar; and Agra-Aligarh, including Mathura, Hathras and Firozabad.

Earlier this week, World Bank Lead Urban Specialist Barjor Mehta presented a draft report on 'Strategic Regional Development Options for Uttar Pradesh' before senior government officials.

Other decisions included finalising the terms of reference within a month for preparation of structure plans, firming up the analytical report based on deeper regional analysis and nomination of Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) as the nodal agency to work with World Bank on this project, the principal secretary told IANS.

"Uttar Pradesh is the biggest beneficiary of EDFC, preparation of structure plans and development of infrastructure in the EDFC influence area in a systemic way is imperative to prevent unorganised growth and future hassles," he added

The World Bank is financing the construction of the freight corridor, Mehta said.

"The bank identified these locations because it would be more cost-effective if already growing regions are developed based on the 'growth centre attractive index', including various parameters such as market accessibility, density of economic activity, per capita industrial investment, educational level and growth rate of trade centres," he added.

A nine-member Bank team is currently touring Uttar Pradesh as part of their exercise to prepare an option paper for the freight corridor.