Uttar Pradesh: Yogi Government Lays Groundwork For NCR-Type State Capital Region Around Lucknow With New Bill

The Uttar Pradesh Assembly has passed a new bill aimed at developing the region surrounding the state capital, Lucknow, based on a model similar to that of the National Capital Region centered around New Delhi.

In July this year, the Yogi Adityanath government had issued a notification for the formation of the State Capital Region (SCR) which would include Lucknow and five other adjoining districts — Hardoi, Sitapur, Unnao, Rae Bareli and Barabanki.

Together, these six districts comprise an area of over 27,000 sq km.

The Uttar Pradesh State Capital Region and Other Areas Development Authority Bill, 2024, which was passed today (August 1), envisions the creation of an authority to develop a roadmap for the areas in and around Lucknow.

According to reports, the Bill also empowers the state government to "rename any of the regions" coming within the authority's jurisdiction.

While the Chief Minister will be the chairman of the Uttar Pradesh State Capital Region Development Authority (UP-SCRDA), officials from housing, finance, industry, irrigation, transport, and other sectors will be its members.

Uttar Pradesh is following a path already taken by other states in adopting the NCR model for capital region development. Similar approaches have been adopted by Andhra Pradesh and Assam. In 2014, Andhra Pradesh established the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority to oversee the development of Amaravati.

In Assam, the Sarbananda Sonowal government had introduced the Assam State Capital Region Development Authority in 2016.