Lucknow is gearing up for a transformative leap as the ₹71 crore State Capital Region (SCR) plan—modelled on Delhi‑NCR—moves into high gear, with finalisation expected within a year and full implementation across five years. The proposed SCR will span six districts—Lucknow, Barabanki, Sitapur, Hardoi, Unnao, and Rae Bareli—encompassing 26,700 sq km to unlock balanced, regional growth.
Funded with technical support from the World Bank, the initiative seeks to boost high-speed inter-district transport, modernise infrastructure, and foster industrial and economic expansion to ease pressure on Lucknow. In a high-level committee meeting at the Lucknow Development Authority auditorium, chaired by Keshav Varma, officials including principal secretaries, planners, and World Bank delegates endorsed the strategy. AECOM India and Aegis India Consulting Engineers have been chosen to develop a GIS-based regional master plan within the one‑year timeframe. They will also prepare detailed project reports for expressways, ring roads, rapid rail, and missing road links. The primary goal is to decentralise economic activity and public services—healthcare, education, housing, utilities—across semi-urban and rural districts to stem migration to Lucknow. Enhanced connectivity through expressways and ring roads is expected to invigorate industrial investment, generate employment, and elevate living standards across the region.
The World Bank emphasised the SCR’s dual objectives: integrating infrastructure growth with cultural heritage conservation and environmental sustainability. The plan envisions protecting heritage sites while deploying climate-resilient urban design and expanding green public spaces. Analysts point out the plan could kickstart a cycle of investment in transport-linked industries, local markets, and digital infrastructure. With improved mobility, parks of opportunity may sprout outside the metropolitan core, fostering a network of interdependent but autonomous urban centres. A senior state planner remarked, “The SCR blueprint is designed to unlock a new growth engine for Uttar Pradesh—one that drives inclusive prosperity, not just for Lucknow but for its adjoining districts.”
If executed seamlessly, SCR promises to set a national benchmark in regional urbanisation—spurring job creation, stabilising migration patterns, and pioneering digitally enabled, green, and heritage-sensitive towns.
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