A year before the state assembly elections, the Uttar Pradesh cabinet on Monday approved the “highest-ever increase” of ₹160 per quintal in the minimum support price (MSP) for wheat, raising it to ₹2585 per quintal.
The approval to the wheat procurement policy for 2026-27 is an obvious bid to increase farmers’ income.
Minister for agriculture Surya Pratap Shahi said the new MSP was in accordance with the one announced by the Union government.
The state cabinet, chaired by chief minister Yogi Adityanath, also gave its nod to the Uttar Pradesh Private Business Park Development Scheme-2025 to develop plug and play (ready to use) private business parks and another one to provide industrial sheds to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
These were among 35 of the 37 proposals that the cabinet cleared at its meeting.
Giving details of the wheat procurement decision, Shahi said the food and civil supplies department had initially set a target of 3 million metric tonnes in 2026-27 but the chief minister asked the department to revise it to 5 million metric tonnes.
As many as 6,500 procurement centres would be set up by eight agencies, including the marketing wing of the state’s food and civil supplies department, he added.
Procurement will begin on March 30 after Ram Navami and will continue till June 15, he said.
“Farmers will be given an additional ₹20 per quintal for unloading, sieving, and cleaning,” said Shahi, according to a press release. He said payments would be made to farmers within 48 hours. To eliminate middlemen, the entire system has been made online, he added.
MODERN BUSINESS PARKS
Modern business parks will be developed for global corporations and will have offices, research and development (R and D) centres, global capability centres (GCCs) and operational centres, minister for finance Suresh Khanna said.
Each business park would be developed for 45 years, extendable for another 45 years on a minimum 10 acres of land, he said, adding that the development of business parks would accelerate global investment and lead to the creation of jobs.
Currently, due to lack of ready to use infrastructure, knowledge economy projects face delays and cost escalation, Alok Kumar, additional chief secretary, infrastructure and industrial development department, said.
Land is generally costlier at places where knowledge economy projects are set up, he said, adding the investor would not have to make any investment to buy land. This initiative will provide modern and ready-to-use infrastructure, which will complement the state’s industrial investment policies, he said.
Similarly, plug and play industrial sheds will be developed with private and public partnership to support MSMEs and start-ups, and promote industrial clustering, Kumar said. He said the scheme will be implemented under the Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) model.
BID DOCUMENTS GET NOD
The state cabinet gave its nod to the bid documents for auction of nearly 174.12-acre land for setting up a multi-modal logistics and warehousing hub in Greater Noida under the provisions of UP Multi Modal Logistics Parks Policy 2024.
He said the this hub would be developed at Bulaki, the junction of the eastern and western dedicated freight corridors. The bidding process would be completed in the next three months.
MANUFACTURING, LOGISTICS CLUSTER NEAR GANGA EXPRESSWAY
The state cabinet approved a proposal for infrastructure development to set up an Integrated Manufacturing and Logistics Cluster (IMLC) near the Ganga Expressway in Sambhal district under the Atal Industrial Infrastructure Mission. This cluster will be developed under the Industrial Corridor Project proposed at 29 locations within the expressway network developed by the Uttar Pradesh Expressway Industrial Development Authority. The project will include development of modern infrastructure such as roads, RCC drains, culverts, fire station, underground reservoirs, water supply lines, fencing and electricity. The project will be constructed under the EPC model and against the proposed cost of ₹293.59 crore, the state cabinet has approved an amount of ₹245.42 crore. This project will boost industrial investment in the Sambhal region, strengthen logistics facilities and create large-scale employment opportunities, thereby giving new momentum to the local economy.
COAL BLOCK
The state cabinet also approved a revised cost of ₹2242.90 crore for development of the Pachhwara South Coal Block in Dumka, Jharkhand, which has been allotted to Neyveli Uttar Pradesh Power Limited, a joint venture of Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam and NLC India Limited.
Minister for energy AK Sharma said development of the Pachhwara South Coal Block with a revised cost of ₹2242.90 crore will provide 270 million ton coal for the 3×660 MW Ghatampur Thermal Power Project of Kanpur Nagar. The availability of coal from this block would lead to generation of cheap power from the present ₹3.71 per unit to ₹2.72 per unit, Sharma added.
