The magneto-transport properties of Ga2O3 nanorod-added YBa2Cu3O7−δ(YBCO) are investigated using a series of nanocomposites, YBCO-x.Ga2O3 (x = 0–0.5 wt%). Inclusion of Ga2O3 nanorods is observed to reduce the superconducting transition width (\(\:{\Delta\:}T\)), indicating enhanced grain connectivity in nanocomposite samples than in pristine YBCO. Furthermore, Arrhenius plots show that the Ga2O3 nanorods incorporation leads to an increase in the activation energy (U0) associated with vortex motion, boosting the flux-pinning ability in the nanocomposite samples. Ginzburg-Landau fitting shows that the upper critical field at 0 K (Hc2(0)) increases upto 231 T for the nanocomposite samples as compared to ~ 178 T for pure YBCO. Furthermore, the field dependence of U0 indicates that the pinning mechanism remains unchanged, implying that the observed enhancement in superconducting properties originates from defect structures introduced by Ga2O3 nanorods, which act as effective flux-pinning centers.