Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) project: UP to be sanctioned Rs.42,000 Cr

With the proposed Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) project on the anvil, Uttar Pradesh is set to benefit considerably from it. An investment of about Rs.42,000 crore is likely to be set aside for the state under this project. Considering that about 1,049 km, which amounts to roughly 57% of the EDFC, is set to pass through 18 districts of UP, thus providing a major boost to the state.

UP Govt agrees for 5% equity contribution:

The proposed alignment of the 1,840 km long EDFC, which starts from Punjab, traverses UP through Khuria, ending at Dankuni in West Bengal. The UP government has agreed for 5% equity contribution towards the implementation of the project, while identifying three integrated manufacturing zones along the stretch of the EDFC project that traverses the state.

UP Govt provides concept note to Central Govt for ADKIC project:

Meanwhile, the UP government has provided a detailed concept description to the Central government which could be implemented in other industrial corridor projects along the EDFC project route. Primary among them is the Amritsar-Delhi-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (ADKIC), which runs along the EDFC project route. This corridor is likely to be modeled along the lines of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), which is part of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) project, with inputs from the UP government.

World Bank identifies three regional growth clusters:

The EDFC project is set to get a major boost with the World Bank identifying three regional growth clusters on the EDFC alignment. It has also agreed to prepare structure plans for these clusters. The proposed clusters include the Auraiya-Kanpur stretch, which includes Kanpur Dehat, the Allahabad-Varanasi stretch which includes Kaushambi and Sant Ravidas Nagar, and the Agra-Aligarh stretch which includes Mathura, Hathras and Firozabad.

Industrial growth expected in UP through the project:

The state of Uttar Pradesh is also expected to gain considerably in terms of industrial growth through the DMIC project. The project has a potential investment of around Rs.25,000 crore till 2040. The UP government has already sanctioned Rs.1,000 crore of equity investment in two early bird projects of DMIC. Meanwhile, the UP State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) will provide 600 acres of land in the first phase and 1,500 acres of land in the second phase as equity for these early bird projects.

Central Govt sanctions funds towards UP projects:

The Central government has sanctioned Rs.617 crore towards the Integrated industrial township which is proposed to come up at Greater Noida. Besides, a further Rs.391 crore has been sanctioned by the central government towards the multimodal logistics hub at Dadri. These are two early bird projects that the Central government has sanctioned, which are proposed to come under the Dadri-Noida-Ghaziabad investment region of the DMIC project.