UP Government has stepped up work on its ambitious Defence Corridor project across six nodes – Agra, Aligarh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Chitrakoot and Jhansi. The project, worth Rs 20,000 crore, has been planned over 5,071 hectare of land spreading across the western, central and Bundelkhand regions of the state.
So far, the State Government has signed 74 MoUs worth Rs 4,000 crore as part of the project wherein manufacturing units of defence goods would be set up. Moreover, 74 hectares of land have also been allotted by the state government to 22 companies in the Aligarh node with a confirmed investment of nearly Rs 1,250 crore.
The UP Defence Corridor project will be developed along the Golden Quadrilateral connecting Delhi – Kolkata supported by networks of six expressways — Yamuna Expressway, Agra – Lucknow Expressway, Purvanchal Expressway, Bundelkhand Expressway, Gorakhpur Link Expressway and Ganga Expressway from Meerut to Pryagaraj.
The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) was made the nodal agency to execute this project in conjunction with various other state agencies.