Invest UP on Wednesday signed an MoU with the Lucknow division of Northern Railway to strengthen UP’s industrial and logistics ecosystem.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh emphasised coordinated efforts between the government and railways to position UP as India’s leading industrial state through logistics hubs, dry ports and multimodal parks. “Better logistics will accelerate industrial growth,” he said.
The agreement, signed by the CEO of Invest UP, Vijay Kiran Anand and NR’s senior divisional operations manager, Lucknow, Rajneesh Kumar Srivastava, aims to offer railway land to investors at a concessional lease rate of 1.5% of the prevailing industrial or circle rate for 35 years. This initiative will help investors develop warehousing and logistics infrastructure, strengthening multimodal connectivity across the state.
Officials discussed implementation strategies, including public-private partnerships and integrating land data into the PM Gati Shakti portal to attract investors.A key provision of the MoU mandates that at least one leg of transportation — raw material or finished goods — must use railways, promoting cost-effective and sustainable logistics.
With a rail network of over 16,000 km, UP is developing logistics hubs, dry ports and industrial parks. Srivastava said, “The core of MoU is cost-effective and easy logistics of raw material and finished goods. Railway wants to contribute by offering three points: provide end-to-end transportation service if the investor develops a warehouse or logistic cargo terminal on its industrial complex. Second, if the investor’s industrial complex is adjacent to a railway property, the railway will offer its land to develop as a cargo terminal to transport goods via freight train. Thirdly, if the investor develops its industrial complex, the railways will give preference and the service will be cheaper as compared to road.”
