In a bid to strengthen Uttar Pradesh’s industrial and logistics ecosystem, Invest UP and the Lucknow Division of Northern Railway signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Wednesday at Lok Bhawan.

The agreement, signed by Invest UP CEO Vijay Kiran Anand and Rajneesh Kumar Srivastava, Senior Divisional Operations Manager of Northern Railway, aims to offer railway land to investors at a concessional lease rate of 1.5 per cent of the prevailing industrial or circle rate for a period of 35 years.

According to the official statement, this initiative will allow investors to develop warehousing and logistics infrastructure, thereby enhancing multimodal connectivity across the state.

Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh highlighted the government’s collaboration with the Railways to transform Uttar Pradesh into India’s leading industrial hub through logistics zones, dry ports, and multimodal parks.

“Uttar Pradesh already has seven expressways, with more on the way. Improved logistics will drive faster industrial expansion,” he noted.

Following the signing, officials discussed implementation strategies including public-private partnerships and integration of land data with the PM Gati Shakti portal to attract further investment.

A key condition of the MoU stipulates that at least one leg of transport—either raw materials or finished goods—must use the rail network, thereby promoting cost-efficient and sustainable logistics.

The collaboration aligns with the UP Warehousing and Logistics Policy 2022, which offers incentives such as stamp duty exemptions, land-use conversion benefits, capital subsidies, and electricity duty waivers for eligible projects with a minimum investment of Rs 200 million.

With a railway network spanning over 16,000 kilometres, Uttar Pradesh is actively developing logistics hubs, dry ports, and industrial parks. Notable ongoing projects include a multimodal logistics hub in Dadri and India’s first freight village in Varanasi.

The state also accounts for nearly 40 per cent of the country’s total cold storage capacity. Future infrastructure plans include logistics hubs in the YEIDA region, cargo complexes near Jewar Airport, and industrial clusters such as Film City, Toy Park, Apparel Park, and the Medical Device Park.

In addition, a defence industrial corridor featuring six nodes and National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) in Jhansi and Auraiya are currently under development.