Lucknow, July 26 (IANS): World Bank has agreed to fund the preparation of preliminary master plans of Auraiya Investment Zone and Allahabad-Naini-Bara Investment Zone, officials said Friday.

Infrastructure and Industrial Development Department (IIDD) principal secretary Surya Pratap Singh said the Uttar Pradesh government was in an advanced stage of notifying two investment zones at Auraiya and Allahabad.

"Preparation of master plans of these zones would help in accelerating the implementation of dedicated freight corridor project," he told IANS.

The World Bank delegation led by Barjor Mehta, lead urban specialist, included agriculture and urbanisation expert Ireena Vittal, consultant competitive industries practice and manufacturing Yannik Saleman and urban planner Vibhu Jain.

Singh said that once developed, the regions would catapult Uttar Pradesh to the forefront of industrial growth. He said that along with Allahabad and Auraiya, the state government would pitch for preparation of master plan of Kannauj also, giving much needed fillip to traditional 'attar' (perfume) industry in the region.

Uttar Pradesh has proposed to develop two National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) and five industrial zones along the state's section of the industrial corridor.

Proposed NIMZs include Auraiya National Investment & Manufacturing Zone (6,043 hectares) and Jhansi National Investment & Manufacturing Zone (5,567 hectares). Industrial zones have been proposed at Pashchimanchal Industrial Zone (2,000 hectares), Braj Industrial Zone (2,000 hectares), Kanpur Logistics hub (6,000 hectares), Allahabad-Naini-Bara Investment Zone (3,000 hectares) and Mughalsari-Varansai-Mirzapur Investment Zone (3,000 hectares).