Invest UP, Indian Railways ink MoU to boost logistics, industrial infra in Uttar Pradesh

With a view to strengthen the industrial and logistics ecosystem in Uttar Pradesh, Invest UP and the Lucknow Division of Northern Railway on Wednesday inked a memorandum of understanding at the Lok Bhawan in Lucknow.

The agreement was signed by Invest UP CEO Vijay Kiran Anand and Rajneesh Kumar Srivastava, senior divisional operations manager, Northern Railway, Lucknow Division, an official statement said.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) 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, it said.

The initiative will help investors develop warehousing and logistics infrastructure, strengthening multimodal connectivity across the state, the statement said.

Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh emphasised the coordinated efforts between the government and the Railways to position Uttar Pradesh as India’s leading industrial state through logistics hubs, dry ports, and multimodal parks.

“Uttar Pradesh already has seven expressways, with more in the pipeline. Better logistics will accelerate industrial growth,” he said.

Post the signing, the officials discussed the implementation strategies, including public-private partnerships and integrating land data into the PM Gati Shakti portal to attract investors.

A key provision in the MoU mandates that at least one leg of transportation -- raw material or finished goods -- must use the Railways, promoting cost-effective and sustainable logistics.

The collaboration supports 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 the eligible projects with a minimum investment of Rs 20 crore.

With a 16,000+ km rail network, Uttar Pradesh is developing logistics hubs, dry ports and industrial parks, the statement said.

The ongoing projects include a multi-modal logistics hub in Dadri and the country’s first freight village in Varanasi.

The state also leads in cold storage capacity, holding nearly 40 per cent of India’s total, the statement said. The future logistics infrastructure includes hubs along the YEIDA region, cargo complexes near the Jewar Airport, and clusters such as Film City, Toy Park, Apparel Park, and the Medical Device Park, it added.

A defence industrial corridor, with six nodes, and NIMZs in Jhansi and Auraiya are also underway, the statement said.