To bolster Uttar Pradesh’s industrial and logistics ecosystem, Invest UP and the Lucknow Division of Northern Railway signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at Lok Bhawan on Wednesday.The MoU, signed by Invest UP CEO Vijay Kiran Anand and Rajneesh Kumar Srivastava, Senior Divisional Operations Manager of Northern Railway, aims to provide railway land to investors at a concessional lease rate of 1.5 per cent of the prevailing industrial or circle rate for a 35-year period.According to the official statement, the move will support the development of warehousing and logistics infrastructure, thereby enhancing multimodal connectivity across the state.Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh noted the coordinated effort between the state government and the Railways to transform Uttar Pradesh into India’s leading industrial state, highlighting projects such as logistics hubs, dry ports, and multimodal parks.“Uttar Pradesh already has seven expressways, with several more under development. Improved logistics will accelerate industrial growth,” he said.Following the MoU signing, officials discussed implementation strategies involving public-private partnerships and the integration of land data into the PM Gati Shakti portal to streamline investor participation.A critical clause in the MoU requires that at least one leg of transportation—either inbound raw material or outbound finished goods—must be moved via the rail network, promoting cost-effective and sustainable logistics solutions.This agreement aligns with the UP Warehousing and Logistics Policy 2022, which provides 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 rail network exceeding 16,000 kilometres, the state is developing logistics hubs, dry ports, and industrial parks. Notable ongoing developments include a multimodal logistics hub in Dadri and India’s first freight village in Varanasi.The state also holds nearly 40 per cent of India’s cold storage capacity. Planned logistics infrastructure includes hubs along the YEIDA region, cargo complexes near Jewar Airport, and industrial clusters like Film City, Toy Park, Apparel Park, and the Medical Device Park.Additionally, work is underway on a defence industrial corridor with six nodes, and National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) in Jhansi and Auraiya.