UP set to acquire over 56K acres for industrial development in Bundelkhand

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

The Uttar Pradesh government recently approved the acquisition of 56,600 acres of land for the development of the Bundelkhand region. 

 

About 22,000 acres or nearly 40 per cent of the identified swathes have been acquired by the nodal agency Bundelkhand Industrial Development Authority (BIDA) so far, according to a senior official.

 

A vast majority of the land has been acquired in the Jhansi district, the most prominent hub of the Bundelkhand region.

 

The state government aims to develop BIDA as a “future investment magnet” on the lines of Noida and Greater Noida. In a recent review meeting, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered the development of an airport, expressway, railway station, truck terminal, information technology (IT) park and a modern multimodal logistics park to position BIDA as a manufacturing and export cluster.

 

Bundelkhand will no longer manifest backwardness but progress, Yogi said. He added: “BIDA’s success would spark an industrial revolution across the region.”

 

Besides, the state will ask the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for extending the Agra–Gwalior Greenfield Expressway to BIDA and Jhansi.

 

Adityanath also called for the development of a Delhi–Nagpur Industrial Corridor node in the BIDA region to align with the national industrial map.

 

He further directed that the land acquisition be completed within six months, and that BIDA is adequately manned with the necessary manpower. 

 

For transparency, BIDA has developed a special software, which makes the land acquisition process — from farmer consent to payment — digital, while a call centre for the farmers will also be established soon.

 

Under the BIDA Master Plan 2045, 253 sq km of land has been designated for specific uses: Industrial (35.8 per cent), residential (15.2 per cent), mixed-use (5.1 per cent), commercial (1.5 per cent), green space (10.6 per cent), and more. 

 

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) process for BIDA’s environmental clearance is currently underway.

 

Jhansi is also one of the six nodes of the flagship UP Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC). The other five nodes are Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Aligarh and Chitrakoot districts.