UP launches Bharat Taxi with zero commission, farm loan scheme at 6%

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday launched Bharat Taxi, a zero-commission platform for two-wheeler, taxi and three-wheeler drivers, alongside the Mukhyamantri Krishak Samriddhi Yojana for farmers.

Drivers who register with Bharat Taxi will pay no commission and will be covered by social security of ₹5 lakh. The Chief Minister said no previous government had addressed the concerns of taxi, two-wheeler and three-wheeler drivers, and that social security would allow them to work responsibly and without worry.

Operations have begun in Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Prayagraj. Memorandums of understanding have been signed with several institutions, including Lucknow Airport, Lucknow Metro and Lucknow Police.

Recalling the Prayagraj Mahakumbh 2025, the Chief Minister said lakhs of young people had ferried devotees to the Sangam on motorcycles, and also helped move people from the Sangam to railway stations and the airport, easing traffic and improving access. He asked Transport Minister Dayashankar Singh to extend the rural bus service on the lines of Bharat Taxi, saying the model could generate employment for lakhs of young people.

Under the Mukhyamantri Krishak Samriddhi Yojana, the interest rate on loans from the Uttar Pradesh Cooperative Gramya Vikas Bank has been reduced from 11% to 6%. Long-term loan arrangements have been made so that farmers do not face a funds shortage for cultivation and machinery, with a target of reaching five lakh small and marginal farmers in the coming years.

The Chief Minister said a prosperous farmer would mean a prosperous India and that a stronger cooperative sector would strengthen the country. He cited loan waivers worth more than ₹36,000 crore for 86 lakh small and marginal farmers after the government was formed in 2017, and the completion of long-pending irrigation projects including the Saryu Canal National Project, which took nearly 50 years, as well as the Arjun Sahayak, Bansagar and Middle Ganga projects.

He said an additional 24 lakh hectares had been brought under irrigation over about nine and a half years, more than 16 lakh farmers with private tubewells were being given free electricity, and canal and government tubewell irrigation was also free.

On sugarcane, he said 122 mills are operational in the state, more than 100 of them making payments by the fourth day, and that ₹3.30 lakh crore had been paid to farmers over nine years. He alleged that earlier governments had shut 29 sugar mills, selling 21 at throwaway prices.

He said facilities had been created from seeds to markets, including pack houses, food processing units, technical support through Krishi Vigyan Kendras and the formation of FPOs, with warehouses of 50,000 metric tonnes capacity being developed at different locations.

The Chief Minister said 16 cooperative banks had become inactive before 2017 and their licences seized, with thousands of crores of rupees belonging to farmers deposited in them; 15 of the 16 are now back in profit and work is on to improve the remaining one. Interest-free cash credit for PACS has been raised from ₹10 lakh to ₹15 lakh, 54 lakh new members have joined the cooperative sector, and digital systems are being strengthened for timely supply of fertilisers and pesticides.

At the event, the Chief Minister launched the Mukhyamantri Krishak Samriddhi Portal app and UPCDC, a fertiliser mobile app, and a Cooperative Data Center with an app for easier access to cooperative services. He handed over Bharat Taxi share certificates to five drivers and loan sanction letters to five beneficiaries of the new scheme.

Bharat Taxi CEO Colonel Himanshu and Adani Airport Lucknow Chief Commercial Officer Shiv Mohan exchanged the MOUs. The Chief Minister, Union Minister of State for Cooperation and Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol and other dignitaries flagged off Bharat Taxi.

Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi, Minister of State for Cooperation (Independent Charge) JPS Rathore, Minister of State for Transport (Independent Charge) Dayashankar Singh, Uttar Pradesh Cooperative Gram Vikas Bank chairman Dr Vivek Kumar Singh Tomar, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation Pankaj Kumar Bansal and Bharat Taxi vice president Rohit Gupta were present.