On Friday, January 9, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, along with UP CM Yogi Adityanath, inaugurated the new EV plant by Ashok Leyland in Lucknow. HD Kumaraswamy, the Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, also attended the event.
The Defence Minister, who is the MP from Lucknow, stated that the plant’s inauguration is another sign of UP’s consistent development graph, freed from the earlier shackles of ‘Goondaraj’ where crimes and criminals decided the state’s fate.
“Once there was goonda raj in the state. But today, industries are coming here daily. Till date, Uttar Pradesh has received investment of ₹34,000 lakh crore. The Yogi Adityanath government has set an investment target of ₹36,000 lakh crore”, the Defence Minister said.
75% of the 70-acre land at Sarojini Nagar in Lucknow was provided by the State Government to the Hinduja Group for the development of the manufacturing plant. Rajnath Singh praised the UP government under CM Yogi for making the state a manufacturing hub that brings jobs and advancements.
CM Yogi inaugurates Ashok Leyland's EV plant in Lucknow
— OpIndia.com (@OpIndia_com) January 9, 2026
He said: “UP is a state transforming limitless possibilities into results.”
“With the most cities on metro networks, India's largest rail network, and two DFC networks, UP has become the country's top investment… pic.twitter.com/nNda5FfA8c
CM Yogi stated at the event, “UP is a state transforming limitless possibilities into results. With the most cities on metro networks, India’s largest rail network, and two DFC networks, UP has become the country’s top investment destination today.”
“The new UP now stands for ‘fearless business, ease of doing business, and trust for doing business”, CM Yogi added.
'Fearless Business', 'Ease of Doing Business' और 'Trust of Doing Business', आज नए उत्तर प्रदेश की पहचान बन चुकी है… pic.twitter.com/Y3ySF4FNJy
— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) January 9, 2026
Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy stated, “This landmark project strengthens Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat, and marks a major step in India’s transition towards clean, sustainable mobility.”
“Under PM Modi’s leadership, we are accelerating EV adoption through flagship schemes like FAME-II (₹11,500 cr), PM E-DRIVE (₹10,900 cr) and PLI Auto & ACC initiatives, while the newly approved REPM scheme (₹7,280 cr) will boost indigenous manufacturing of critical components for EVs and defence”, Kumaraswamy posted on X
The plant is designed to produce upto 5000 EVs annually. Majority of the workforce are from Uttar Pradesh, with a significant number of women workers too, the Hinduja Group informed.
The plant has been designed as a green facility. It has rooftop solar panels, LED lighting, battery-operated in-plant logistics, positive water balance initiatives and zero discharge system.
