5 new agriculture varsities in pipeline in UP

Jaunpur, UP, Mar 5 (UNI) To boost agriculture, five new agriculture universities would be set up in Uttar Pradesh.

The announcement was made by state Agriculture Minister Kamta Prasad Gautam here yesterday.

Talking to newspersons Mr Gautam said, ''UP government is committed to boost agriculture. Therefore, it has decided to establish five more agriculture varsities in the state.'' The five cities to have new universities are Agra, Lucknow, Bareilly, Azamgarh and Jhansi, he informed.

To strengthen the cooperative movement, the UP government has kickstarted several significant schemes. A power house at Meja in Allahabad is being set up to fight power crisis in the state, he underlined.

On February 28, an agreement for setting up the 1,320 MW Meja Thermal Power Project at Allahabad was signed between UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (UPRVUNL) and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).

The estimated cost of the project is Rs 7,200 crore and the share of equity of UPRVUNL and NTPC in the JV would be 50:50.

Two super-critical units of 660 MW capacity each would be installed.

Based on super-critical technique, these units would consume less coal than those consumed by units based on traditional techniques.

Praising the eight-lane Ballia-Greater Noida Ganga Expressway Project, the minister said, ''the mega project would accelerate the industrial development of UP.'' UNI XC/ATI NY VC0935