UP Defence Corridor: 138 MoUs worth Rs 25,000 cr investment signed

Lucknow: In a significant development, the proposed defence corridor in Uttar Pradesh is gaining momentum alongside the industrial corridor. The finalised proposal for the defence corridor involves an investment of approximately Rs 25,000 crores. Multinational companies have shown keen interest in investing in Jhansi, Lucknow, and Aligarh. As of now, 138 MoUs have been signed across the six nodes in the state.

Defence corridors are being developed in six districts: Aligarh, Jhansi, Kanpur, Agra, Chitrakoot, and Lucknow. The acquisition of 5,000 hectares of land has been undertaken for this purpose, with nearly 1,700 hectares already allocated to investors.

Senior officials of the Uttar Pradesh Defence Corridor Authority (UPDCA) disclosed that the acquired land in Aligarh has been allocated to investors. Similar progress is observed in the Kanpur and Lucknow nodes, where land acquisition for the second phase is underway. Jhansi, particularly, has seen increased interest from major companies following the entry of Bharat Dynamics Ltd.

Several international companies have expressed interest in MoUs for the defence corridor. Notable entities such as Adani Defence and Aerospace, Anchor Research Lab, Genesys, Cell, EMITECH, BrahMos Aerospace, Tata Technologies, Optic Electronics India, Bharat Dynamics Ltd., L&T, Delta Combat, Hans Energy, SpiceJet Technologies, Varivin Defense, BEML, HAL, Gliders India, IIT Kanpur, IIT BHU, and DRDO are among those involved in agreements with the UPDCA.