UP: NCDC regional centre to come up in Lucknow

The Cabinet also gave its approval for heliports in Agra, Mathura, Prayagraj and Lucknow.Speaking to reporters here after the Cabinet meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said 2.5 acres at Jaitikhera in Sarojini Nagar of the state capital has been identified for setting up the centre.

The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday gave its approval to provide land free of cost to set up a regional center of the National Centre for Disease Control in Lucknow, officials said. The Cabinet also gave its approval for heliports in Agra, Mathura, Prayagraj, and Lucknow.

Speaking to reporters here after the Cabinet meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said 2.5 acres at Jaitikhera in Sarojini Nagar of the state capital have been identified for setting up the center. ''The land will be given on lease to the NCDC for 30 years,'' he said. According to the minister, the NCDC had set a condition that it would open a regional center if it gets free land. ''Six centers will be coming up in the country and Lucknow will be one of them,'' he said. A total of 14 proposals were approved by the state Cabinet in the meeting. The NCDC has its headquarters in Delhi and eight branches located in Alwar in Rajasthan, Bengaluru in Karnataka, Kozhikode in Kerala, and Coonoor in Tamil Nadu, Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh, Patna in Bihar, Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. UP's Tourism Minister Jayveer Singh said, ''Heliports will be developed in Agra, Mathura, Prayagraj, and Lucknow. This will improve connectivity. The Agra heliport will be in close proximity to the Yamuna Expressway and the Agra-Lucknow Expressway.''