The Bundelkhand region has been under-developed for a long time. The defense industrial corridor in Bundelkhand is going to give a much-needed push to the development of the region that has been previously ignored by state and center governments. the wait is over and the people of Bundelkhand are looking forward to this as it can bring prosperity to the region that has always been underprivileged and lived under the shadow of negligence.
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History and overview of Defense industrial corridor
India is fast emerging as a major aerospace and Defence market with requirements of over USD 250 billion by 2025. These Defence requirements are spanning from military aircraft, submarines, helicopters, land systems to weapons and sensors.
With the aim of leveraging the economic opportunity present and achieving self-reliance in the aerospace and Defence sector, the government of India announced the setting up of two Defence industrial corridors, one in Uttar Pradesh and the other in Tamil Nadu, during the Union Budget of 2018-19.
The UPDIC is planned across 6 nodes namely – Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi, Agra Aligarh, Chitrakoot, which spreads across the Central, East, West region of Uttar Pradesh and along the Golden Quadrilateral connecting Delhi – Kolkata supported by networks of expressways. 2 of the nodes comes under Bundelkhand.
Expressways in Uttar Pradesh
- Yamuna Expressway
- Agra – Lucknow Expressway
- Purvanchal Expressway
- Bundelkhand Expressway
- Gorakhpur Link Expressway
- Ganga Expressway
These highways will be used to inter-connect 6 nodes. The government had acquired acres of land for expressways. 32 MoUs have been signed between UPEIDA and various companies to establish manufacturing units at the nodes for U.P. Defence Industrial Corridor. Bundelkhand-defense-corridor is going to help them improve the economical condition of the place.
How Defense industrial corridor will help the Bundelkhand region
Lets first shed a light on basic issues Bundelkhand is facing
The Bundelkhand region lies in central and north India. This hilly region is now divided between the states of Uttar Pradesh & Madhya Pradesh. The Area of this region is about 70,000 sq km which is roughly bigger than Ladakh or Uttarakhand. This region is struggling with drought problems for the last two decades while being rich in history it is considered the economically most backward region of our country. People are not having employment so they have to migrate to other states for jobs. People are homeless, they do not have enough food and clothing, they are living in poor conditions.
The Bundelkhand region is rich in natural resources like red sand which is known as red-gold, is the best in the world, and it is exported to foreign countries and other states. Ideally, this should have helped Bundelkhand’s economical condition but it did not. As local politicians are busy making tons of money with illegal mining and none of the previous governments bothered to do anything about it. Thanks to the BJP government who recognized the problem and working in direction of the region’s welfare. They included the Bundelkhand region and gave 2 nodes of the corridor.
Advantages of bringing the Defense corridor project to Bundelkhand
The government is planning two state-owned airstrips in Chitrakoot and Jhansi. They will set up multiple factories in the Bundelkhand region where they will manufacture defense equipment on a large scale. Bundelkhand expressway construction is already in progress and should be completed soon.
The state also intends to establish Common Facility Centres (CFC), Centres of Excellence (CoE), and Skill Development Centres to facilitate in providing best practices, research and development, and skill development. Hence, the envisaged corridor not only targets at setting up of manufacturing hubs but also aims at generating employment opportunities to cater to the most populous state in the country.
Below are the key advantages that will help the development of Bundelkhand
- Better connectivity to megacities and the capital of India, that will make convenience faster and cheaper.
- Rise in employment within area, locals will not have to migrate away from their home.
- Skill development and industrial training will be provided to locals that will enable them to get better opportunities.
- Easy transport will reduce the cost of raw material for small scale industries.
- When the general population will earn good money, it will enhance their purchasing power which in turn will profit the local business and the country’s economy.
- This project is based on the “Atam Nirbhar Bharat” mindset and it will boost the country’s morale.
Bundelkhand expressway will connect 2 nodes of the Defense industrial corridor under the Bundelkhand region, Chitrakoot and Jhansi
The Bundelkhand Expressway is an under-construction 296 km, four-lane access-controlled expressway in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The broad route will start from Bundelkhand‘s Chitrakoot Dham (Karwi) after that route will be Chitrakoot Dham (Karwi)– Banda, Uttar Pradesh–Rath– Orai– Jalaun–Auraiya– Etawah where it will join Agra Lucknow Expressway. It is proposed to be developed by the UPEI. Bundelkhand Expressway is key to Defense industrial corridor which is estimated to cost ₹14,716 crore
In a tribute to former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Yogi Adityanath led BJP government has decided to name the proposed Bundelkhand Expressway as “Atal Path” in the memory of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Expressway will pass through Bateshwar, Agra, the ancestral village of the former PM.
Confirming the move, UP Transport Minister Swatantra Dev Singh said that – notification in this regard will be issued soon. He said that the expressway route connects Bateshwar in the Bah tehsil of Agra, the ancestral village of the great leader.“This is the best way to pay respects to the great statesman,” he said.
