The Uttar Pradesh government is at an advanced stage of procuring lands in setting up residential townships around the major religious cities of the state, such as Ayodhya, Banaras, and Mathura. The chief reason driving this demand is the escalating demand for housing space as a result of rapid urbanization.
Confirming the developments, the Housing Commissioner, Balkar Singh, said the state government was giving importance to the proposed development of cities that have been historically and religiously important as well as tourism destinations. All these are part of the strategy to deal with the rising population as well as the economic activities taking place in the demand-driven areas.
The Uttar Pradesh government has approved the allocation of close to ₹6,000 crore for setting up Greenfield township projects in the state in August 2025 itself. Also emerging are various projects which would help to decongest existing urban centers by providing an organized living area with modern civic facilities.
As Singh states that the growing global focus on cities like Ayodhya, Mathura, and Kashi (also known as Varanasi) owing to large-scale development activities has raised the attractiveness of residential development in these areas. The transformation of these cities at a rapid pace has induced a massive demand in people to reside near religious and cultural points of significance.
In response to this call, the Uttar Pradesh Housing and Development Board (UPHDB) has speeded up its Greenfield Ayodhya Township project. At the same time, efforts for land acquisition are also ongoing in other religious and heritage sites such as Mathura, Varanasi, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, and Kushinagar. According to reports, this is being done with a long-term vision to allow for managed growth.
Apart from the religious hubs, the demand for housing also picked up along the major infrastructure corridors. According to Singh, this is because the development of expressways, airports, logistics hubs, industrial parks, and freight corridors, implemented as a result of the economic thrust of the state government, contributed to the rise of new industrial and urban clusters. Consequently, this is driving the demand for housing, as people from all walks of life migrate to the regions.
The Adityanath-led government has a target to make the economy of Uttar Pradesh a $1-trillion economy. To achieve this target, the government has undertaken various large-scale infrastructure development projects. This has, in turn, increased the movement of people towards the urban as well as semi-urban areas, thus augmenting the demand for housing.
As a result of more and more urbanisation, there is constant migration from rural to urban areas, explained Mr Singh. He further stated, this leads to an increase in population in bigger urban areas; hence, the requirement for houses increases.”
At present, the housing board has started new projects in big cities like Lucknow, Prayagraj, Ghaziabad, Moradabad, Bareilly, Kanpur, and Ayodhya. Alongside, land acquisition and location selection works are being conducted in different Tier II and III cities, which include Pratapgarh, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Mau, Ballia, Banda, Etah, Hathras, Kasganj, Basti, and Sant Kabir Nagar.
To further stretch their land bank and keep pace with growing demand for standalone units and development lands, smaller tier II and tier III cities are being targeted instead of just big cities, which is a new strategy adopted by the board.
At the same time, to reduce pending stock, the housing board has started offering discounts to buy unsold units from its stock. Discounted ready-to-move-in flats are being provided with a maximum discount of 15 percent in Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Kanpur, Saharanpur, Moradabad, and Agra. Responding to this scheme, over 1,500 allottees have registered to buy flats worth ₹700crores, said Singh.
According to industry analysts, while the supply of housing has tempered compared to the initial years, public investment and development driven by infrastructure will assure a stable demand scenario in the medium term for various areas that reap the benefits of connectivity and economic development.
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