The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday announced the implementation of the Uttar Pradesh Factories (Amendment) Act following President Droupadi Murmu’s assent, marking a significant step towards boosting industrial growth, enhancing production capacity, and creating more employment opportunities across the state.

According to an official statement, the new provisions empower the Yogi Adityanath led state government to extend the maximum daily working hours in factories to 12 hours, provided that the total weekly working hours do not exceed 48. The Act also permits workers to engage in up to six hours of continuous work without an interval, subject to their written consent, news agency PTI reported.

In addition, the state government may now increase the quarterly limit for overtime work from 75 hours to 144 hours in cases of exceptional workload.

“A key feature of the amendment is the inclusion of a provision permitting women workers to work night shifts, provided they give written consent and that all safety and health measures are fully observed,” the statement said.

It further added, “Workers performing duties beyond the prescribed daily limit will be entitled to overtime wages at double the ordinary rate of pay.”

Principal Secretary (Labour) Atul Srivastava said the amendment would make Uttar Pradesh more competitive in terms of industrial development and strengthen the state’s progress toward achieving the goal of becoming a USD 1 trillion economy.