LUCKNOW, May 31 -- Lucknow, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Ghaziabad, Agra, and Kanpur Nagar are the top five districts across the state that contributed majorly to employment opportunities created in the industrial sector in 2023-24, as per the latest District Domestic Product (DDP) estimates for the year 2023-24. The economics and statistics division of U.P's planning department released the report on Friday. The factories were registered under the Factories Act and MSME sector, says the report. When it comes to GST collection from registered manufacturing establishments, the top five districts are Lucknow, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Kanpur Nagar and Muzaffarnagar. "For expeditious and holistic economic progress, the state government is continuously working for development of the manufacturing sector in the state, as per the existing potential and possibilities by taking conducive policy decisions," Alok Kumar, principal secretary (planning), said. The report also points out the increase in the number of factories in the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) in 2023-24. The total number of factories under ASI in 2023-24 are 22,303, up by 15.6% as compared to 2022-23. The top five districts with maximum factories were Gautam Buddha Nagar (5,841), Ghaziabad (2,561), Kanpur Nagar (1,464), Agra (1,155) and Meerut (931). htc...