Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has directed officials to aggregate industrial land bank of 10,000 acres in his home turf of Gorakhpur district. The land would be notified by Gorakhpur Industrial Development Authority (GIDA) flanking the direct road connecting the district with proposed Purvanchal Expressway, which is estimated to cost Rs 200 billion. Interestingly, by poll to Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency is due next month to fill the seat vacated by Adityanath last year. Currently, GIDA has a land bank of about 1,700 acres and ramping up it by 10,000 acres means creating almost 6 times additional industrial grade land bank vis-à-vis presently. Yogi said the land would further boost the industrialisation in the region. He has also directed for increased vigil and patrolling in the GIDA area for instilling confidence among industrialists and investors. Purvanchal Expressway would traverse nine districts viz. Lucknow, Barabanki, Faizabad, Ambedkarnagar, Amethi, Sultanpur, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur. The 341 km long Expressway would also connect Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency with a direct link road.
Modi is touted to lay the foundation of the mega-project as well.
Besides, Adityanath also announced that investment to the tune of Rs 15 billion would be facilitated in GIDA over the next 12 months. The total investment in GIDA of Rs 12 billion, since its inception was grossly inadequate to meet the growing industrial development requirements in the region, he noted. While the notification of GIDA was issued in November 1989, the foundation laying was performed by then UP CM Kalyan Singh on September 9, 1992. Meanwhile, Adityanath exhorted officials to adopt a proactive approach towards resolving the grievances of entrepreneurs. Last year, Adityanath had quit his Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat to enter the UP legislature, as mandated under the statute to continue in the CM’s chair. He was elected to the state Upper House, Vidhan Parishad along with his two deputies Keshav Prasad Maurya, who had likewise quit Phulpur (Allahabad) parliamentary constituency, and Dinesh Sharma, who was then Lucknow Mayor. The by-poll to both the seats would be held on March 11 and results declared on March 14, according to the Election Commission. The poll results would come even before the Adityanath government completes a year in office on March 19, 2018. Yogi had represented the Gorakhpur seat for five consecutive terms. The by-polls is an acid test for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Adityanath, as it would be construed as people’s mandate to his regime and a barometer of his popularity. Meanwhile, Adityanath has asked officials for necessary groundwork before the UP Investors’ Summit. The two-day Summit would be inaugurated by Modi on February 21, while President Ram Nath Kovind would grace the concluding ceremony along with union finance minister Arun Jaitley.