UP govt saves Rs 620 cr in bidding process for Purvanchal Expressway

Uttar Pradesh government claims to have saved nearly Rs 620 crore by allowing private developers to bid for civil contracts for its flagship Purvanchal Expressway, which is now under-construction and expected to be completed by August 2020.

The 340km expressway has been divided into 8 separate parts for ensuring faster completion of the mega project, which ranks amongst the flagship projects of the Adityanath government.

According to UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) CEO Awanish Awasthi, bids totalling Rs 11,216 crore were received for all the 8 parts, which was 5.24% less than expressway’s estimated civil works cost of Rs 11,836 crore, thus resulting in savings of Rs 620 crore for the exchequer.

Yesterday, UP chief secretary Anup Chandra Pandey also inspected its progress at Amethi, Sultanpur, Ghazipur and Azamgarh and warned officials against laxity. He also asked the officials to adhere to deadlines. So far, 10% of civil work has been completed and 96% of required land has been acquired.

A total of 4,332 hectares would be acquired for Purvanchal Expressway, which traverses 9 districts  - Lucknow, Barabanki, Faizabad, Ambedkarnagar, Amethi, Sultanpur, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur. In January 2019, the state government had cleared the proposed 91-km Gorakhpur Link Expressway project, estimated to cost an additional Rs 5,555 crore, to link Gorakhpur with the Purvanchal Expressway.

Purvanchal Expressway would provide seamless connectivity between the backward eastern UP districts and the National Capital Region (NCR) via the already operational Agra-Lucknow Expressway and the Agra-Greater Noida Yamuna Expressway.

The expressway, which is estimated to cost Rs 23,350 crore, including land costs, will have an emergency airstrip for Indian Air Force (IAF) jets at Kurebhar (Sultanpur). Currently, Agra-Lucknow Expressway has a 3.3-km long runway at Unnao for allowing landing and takeoff to IAF fighter planes during emergency.

On November 21, 2016, when the Rs 15,000 crore mega expressway was inaugurated by then UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, 6 Mirage and Sukhoi figher aircraft had conducted a landing and takeoff drill.

Meanwhile, another mega expressway - the Bundelkhand Expressway - has been proposed by the Adityanath government to connect the arid zone with the main hinterland of the state. It would traverse Jhansi, Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jalaun, Auraiya and Etawah districts.

Bundelkhand Expressway is expected to cost Rs 14,000 crore and will require 3,642 hectares, of which nearly 2,200 hectares have already been acquired. Land owners were paid Rs 1,360 crore against the acquisition.

UP will also develop the 600km Ganga Expressway, proposed as the world’s longest access controlled expressway. It would link Prayagraj (Allahabad) with western UP and require acquisition of 6,556 hectares of land. It will traverse 12 districts viz. Meerut, Amroha, Bulandshahar, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Kannauj, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratagarh and Prayagraj. It is expected to cost Rs 36,000 crore and will link the dry region with the state hinterland.