Continuing his efforts to promote industrialisation in the state, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has now issued directions to amend the revenue code which will make it easier to acquire land in the state.

The amended code will make it possible to lease agricultural land for industrial units and industrial parks.

The Land Acquisition Act of 2013 will also be amended to simplify the procedure for acquiring land within a distance of 1 km on either side of an expressway. This will also provide for additional means of revenue generation for the industrial development authorities.

According to a government spokesperson, the state government will also develop an electronic city near the Jewar International Airport for which a large land parcel will be acquired.

“At a meeting between the Chief Minister and senior officials, it also was decided to auction the lands of closed public sector units. A legal verification the land will have to be carried out for the purpose,” he said.

If a revenue village comes under an industrial development authority, it has been decided that the public land in these gram sabhas will be vested with the respective authority.

Under the Industrial Development Zone Act, allotment of a plot will be cancelled if a unit is not set up there after a stipulated period of time.

Meanwhile, it has also been decided that land of closed units under the Industrial Development Department and plots allotted to closed units of other departments, such as sugar mills and Central government undertakings, will be acquired for the land bank.

The government is also going to set up a modern integrated industrial township with mixed land use. The revenue department has been directed to immediately delegate rights for the early disposal of proposals received from industrial units for reclamation of land and exchange of land.

The official said that a decision to monetise expressways being operated by the UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority has also been taken.

“There are some major projects in progress like the Purvanchal Expressway and the Bundelkhand Expressway. In order to generate financial resources for these, it has been decided to develop land banks along the expressways. Other industrial development authorities have also been asked to look at similar options for generating revenue,” the spokesperson said.