In Rs 59,000-crore Budget boost for UP, expressways and industries get big push

Among departments, Heavy and Medium Industries gets one of the biggest allocations at Rs 22,107.88 crore, while Rural Development has been allocated Rs 17,942.73 crore. The Energy Department gets Rs 7,422.27 crore, Medical, Health and Family Welfare Rs 2,000.25 crore, the Social Welfare Department Rs 1,655 crore, and Women Welfare Rs 1,094.40 crore.

The supplementary budget also carries a notable social welfare component. Of the Rs 1,655 crore allocated to the Social Welfare Department, Rs 407 crore has been earmarked for the Dr B.R. Ambedkar Murti Vikas Yojana, while Rs 1,500 crore has been provided for the National Old Age Pension Scheme, besides additional provisions for scholarship and higher education assistance schemes.

But the individual demands reveal where some of the government’s biggest infrastructure bets lie.

Rs 6,500 crore for Vindhya Expressway expansion

The supplementary budget provides Rs 6,500 crore for the expansion of the proposed Vindhya Expressway connecting Prayagraj, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Chandauli and Sonbhadra, making it one of the largest infrastructure allocations in the package. It also earmarks Rs 80 crore for construction of the expressway.

Additionally, the government has allocated Rs 2,300 crore for land acquisition and Rs 80 crore for construction of the proposed Vindhya Expressway-Purvanchal Link Spur, which will originate in Sonbhadra and pass through Chandauli and Ghazipur before linking with the Purvanchal Expressway.

The budget further provides Rs 5,700 crore for land acquisition and Rs 80 crore for construction for the Meerut-Haridwar extension of the Ganga Expressway.

For the proposed greenfield expressway connecting Jewar Airport to the Ganga Expressway via the Yamuna Expressway, the supplementary demands provide Rs 250 crore.

Another Rs 400 crore has been provided for the proposed greenfield expressway from the Agra-Lucknow Expressway to the Ganga Expressway between Hardoi and Farrukhabad.

The supplementary demands also include Rs 100 crore for an elevated flyover along the Shahdara drain connecting Chilla Regulator near Mayur Vihar in Delhi with the MP-3 Road near Mahamaya Flyover in Noida.

Rs 3,000 crore for new and expanded industrial areas

Alongside the expressways, the government has made a substantial push towards creating land and infrastructure for industries.

A provision of Rs 3,000 crore has been made under the Mukhyamantri Audyogik Kshetra Vistarikaran/Naye Audyogik Kshetra Protsahan Yojana for expansion of existing industrial areas and development of new ones.

Another Rs 1,500 crore has been earmarked for the Atal Industrial Infrastructure Mission.

Under the Centre-sponsored BHAVYA scheme, Rs 495.86 crore has been provided for industrial area projects, while Rs 200 crore has been allocated for internal infrastructure in industrial corridors near expressways.

The supplementary demands also include Rs 1,302.61 crore under the FDI and Fortune 500 Investment Promotion Policy-2023, besides allocations for the UPIDA headquarters, UP IT Sadan, and State Data Centre 2.0.

Energy remains another major focus, with Rs 6,958 crore earmarked for funding losses of power distribution companies and Rs 400 crore for the Meja-II Thermal Power Project.

Cabinet decisions get nod

-Proposal to constitute ‘UP Nomadic Development Board’ 

The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday approved the proposal to constitute the ‘Uttar Pradesh Nomadic Development Board’ to ensure socio-economic upliftment and welfare of denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic communities. The decision was taken in a meeting of the  Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow. 

The primary objective of the Board is to identify these communities, prepare their enumeration, and ensure the effective implementation and monitoring of the Central and state governments’ welfare schemes like SEED (Scheme for Economic Empowerment of Denotified Nomadic Tribes), housing and livelihood assistance), the government said in a statement.

-Prayagraj-Chitrakoot Development Region

The Cabinet, under the provisions of Section 3(1) of the Uttar Pradesh State Capital Region and Other Area Development Authority Act, 2024, gave the go-ahead to the proposal of declaring the ‘Prayagraj-Chitrakoot Development Region’ and to constitute the ‘Prayagraj–Chitrakoot Regional Development Authority’.

The Authority will come into effect from the date of issuance of the notification after the Cabinet approval, the statement said.

It has been formed with an to achieve coordinated, rapid, and integrated planned development of the adjoining and nearby areas of the districts of Chitrakoot, Fatehpur, Banda, Kaushambi, and Hamirpur bordering Prayagraj district and provide better civic amenities and infrastructure facilities.

-Yu Hub in Lucknow and Noida

Also, a Yu Hub (Deep Tech Hub) is being established in Lucknow and Noida to promote advanced research infrastructure, prototyping and testing facilities, investment and technology commercialisation, and to transform research into commercial products and industries in the state, the government said.

Its objective is to provide world-class infrastructure, access to capital, industry-academia collaboration and a favorable policy environment through a deep-tech innovation ecosystem, and to establish the state as a national and global centre of innovation and technology, it added. Besides, Yu Hub will serve as an integrated platform for startups, research institutions, industry, investors and policy-makers.

(With inputs from Bhupendra Pandey)