Land acquisition for townships near UP's religious cities in last stages

Ayodhya, Varanasi & Mathura in top bracket, says Housing Commissioner Balkar Singh

The Uttar Pradesh government is in the advanced stages of acquiring land in prominent religious cities, including Ayodhya, Varanasi and Mathura to build residential townships to meet the rising housing demand, the state’s Housing Commissioner Balkar Singh said. 

 

The state government had sanctioned ₹6000 crore in August this year to build greenfield township projects across the state. 

 

Singh, however, said that the Yogi Adityanath government is giving emphasis on the development of towns that are important from ancient, religious and tourism perspectives. 

 

“Owing to the rapid development of these areas, there is a growing awareness about Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi (Varanasi) among the people of the country. This is fuelling their aspirations to settle in these sacred regions,” Singh told Business Standard.

 

 

To meet this growing demand, the UP Housing and Development Board is expediting work on its ‘Greenfield Ayodhya Township’, while the land acquisition proceedings are underway in Mathura, Kashi, Chitrakoot etc.

 

The commissioner also said that there is a spurt in the housing demand along the mega infrastructure projects such as expressways.

 

To achieve its overarching target of making UP a $1 trillion-economy, the Adityanath government has launched a plethora of development projects across the state. These include expressways, airports, logistics hubs, industrial parks etc.

 

Along these corridors, new industrial and urban areas are coming up, which translates into a growing rush of people belonging to different income groups to work in these areas.

 

Therefore, the demand for housing is increasing in the pockets adjoining these newly-developed regions and industrial corridors.

 

“Due to increasing urbanisation, there is a continuous migration of people from villages to cities. This leads to growth in the population of large cities, and as a result, the demand for housing also goes up,” Singh noted.

 

At present, the housing board is operating new schemes in major cities including Lucknow, Prayagraj, Ghaziabad, Moradabad, Bareilly, Kanpur and Ayodhya, while in cities like Varanasi, Mathura, Chitrakoot, Jhansi and Kushinagar, the land acquisition process is in progress, the commissioner said.

 

Additionally, site selection and acquisition work is underway in smaller districts including Pratapgarh, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Mau, Ballia, Banda, Etah, Hathras, Kasganj, Basti and Sant Kabir Nagar.

 

In view of the demand for independent houses and plots, the housing board is acquiring land not only in big cities but also in Tier-II and Tier-III cities to expand its land bank.

 

For the disposal of unsold flats, the board is allotting ready-to-move flats at a 15 per cent discount in Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Kanpur, Saharanpur, Moradabad and Agra.

 

So far, over 1,500 allottees have registered flats worth approximately ₹700 crore under this scheme, Singh informed.