Poll bound UP to get road projects worth Rs 2,50,000 crore

Some projects are already underway, most of the rest are likely to be announced before poll dates are made public

In run up to the crucial 2017 Uttar Pradesh polls, the state roads and highways sector is gearing up to virtually transform into a theatre of politicking between the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) in UP and challenger Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with both slugging it out with slew of projects.

Roads, highways and expressway projects of over Rs 2,50,000 crore are projected to be undertaken in UP over the next 2-3 years. While some of these projects are already underway, the majority of the remaining projects are likely to be announced before the UP poll dates are made public by the Election Commission.

The central projects undertaken by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) would account for a bulk of projects totalling almost Rs 2,00,000 crore, of which projects costing Rs 60,000 crore are underway in the state.

The highways and expressways have already accorded top priority by the Akhilesh Yadav government. The state has made a provision of over Rs 32,500 crore in the Annual and supplementary budgets for the sector.

The project to link all 75 district headquarters in UP with four lane roads is underway and about 50 districts had already been networked.

Besides, work on the 302 km Agra-Lucknow Expressway is in final stages and the motorway is to be inaugurated soon. The project, which had been awarded to private companies by UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), is estimated to cost Rs 15,000 crore.

Another expressway between Ballia and Lucknow known as Samajwadi Purvanchal Expressway is in the offing and estimated to cost Rs 18,000 crore to UP coffers. In the recent supplementary budget presented in UP legislative assembly, the Akhilesh government had provisioned Rs 800 crore towards land acquisition for this 350 km long Expressway.

Through these expressways, the government aims at providing seamless connectivity between Purvanchal (Eastern UP) and the national capital region (NCR) via Purvanchal Expressway, Agra-Lucknow Expressway and the 165 km long Yamuna Expressway, which is already operational.

Thus, the total number of projects in the UP highways and expressways sector total over Rs 65,000 crore.

Union road transport, highways and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari had already announced road projects of over Rs 2,00,000 crore would be undertaken in poll bound UP over the next two years.

Recently, he had laid foundation of three such projects viz. Rs 806 crore Varanasi-Jaunpur stretch on National Highway (NH) 56, Rs 785 crore Varanasi-Azamgarh stretch on NH 233 and Rs 868 crore Varanasi-Ghazipur stretch on NH 29. Varanasi is the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister and BJP mascot Narendra Modi. These are projected to be completed by June 2018.

Besides, the Centre is mulling upgrading the Lucknow-Kanpur NH to eight-lane at an estimated cost of Rs 10,000 crore and to be completed by 2019.