LUCKNOW: In a significant administrative reshuffle, state govt has brought the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) under the infrastructure development department, a portfolio held by CM Yogi Adityanath. The move, notified recently, shifts the authority from the industries department, which is overseen by industries minister Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’.Officials said the change was aimed at streamlining the distribution of work between the infrastructure and industrial development departments.Additional chief secretary, infrastructure and industrial development, Alok Kumar, said the infrastructure development department has always functioned as a separate entity through a dedicated section in the govt. However, an overlap had emerged between the infrastructure development wing and the section in the industrial development department handling UPEIDA.“There was duplication in the nature of work being handled by the two sections. The reshuffle is aimed at removing this overlap and ensuring greater administrative efficiency,” Kumar said.Sources familiar with the development said that until now, files related to UPEIDA’s projects, approvals and budget sanctions were routed through the industries minister. Going forward, such proposals and files will be processed through the chief minister’s office.UPEIDA was constituted in Dec 2007 by the industrial development department to develop expressways and promote industrial growth along access-controlled high-speed corridors. Over the years, however, the authority’s primary role has increasingly centred on creating large-scale infrastructure.“The core objective of UPEIDA is infrastructure creation, which subsequently facilitates industrial development. The recent restructuring aligns the authority’s administrative control with its principal function,” said a senior official.Acting on a proposal submitted by the industries department, the secretariat administration department issued an order transferring UPEIDA to the infrastructure development department. The order noted that since the authority’s core activity is the development of infrastructure facilities, it would be more appropriately placed under the department specifically tasked with infrastructure development rather than industrial development.
