 "Uttar Pradesh to invest Rs 50,000 crore on seven new expressway projects")
Uttar Pradesh plans to invest nearly Rs 50,000 crore in seven new expressway projects in the next 2-3 years, connecting about 30 districts to the vast expressway network in the state, a senior UP government official said.
The combined length of these expressways is 866 km. The projects have been cleared by the UP cabinet, the official said.
At present, UP accounts for the largest network of expressways in India, either operational or under construction.
These projects, to be undertaken by the UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), will feed the $ one trillion economy target of the Yogi Adityanath government in the state.
The seven new expressways would interlink about 56 districts or 75 per cent of the total 75 districts in UP with a world-class expressways network.
“The expressway network will connect these areas with the Lucknow-State Capital Region and the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) to provide seamless connectivity for passengers and cargo,” he added.
The seven proposed expressways are Chitrakoot Link Expressway (120 km), Jhansi Link Expressway (100 km), Jewar Link Expressway (76 km), Vindhya Expressway (320 km), Vindhya Purvanchal Link Expressway (100 km), Agra Lucknow Expressway-Purvanchal Expressway Link Expressway (60 km), and Agra Lucknow Expressway-Ganga Expressway Link Expressway (90 km).
Currently, five expressway projects are operational in UP, crisscrossing more than two dozen districts.
These include Yamuna Expressway (165 km), Agra-Lucknow Expressway (302 km), Purvanchal Expressway (340 km), Bundelkhand Expressway (296 km) and Gorakhpur Link Expressway (91 km).
Another project, the 594-km Ganga Expressway, which was estimated to be ready before the Maha Kumbh 2025, is expected to be commissioned by March-April.
Together with the five operational expressways (1,194 km) and under-construction Ganga Expressway (594 km), the total length of expressways in UP is 1,788 km.
Once the proposed seven expressways are operational, the total length of expressways would add up to 2,654 km.
"The rapid development of infrastructure in UP is propelling an array of industries such as realty, housing, furniture, construction material etc," said Gaurav Sinha, head, paints major Berger’s Sandila (UP) unit.
Meanwhile, UP has also proposed to develop two development enclaves- Prayagraj-Chitrakoot Development Region and Varanasi-Vindhya Development Region- for religious, cultural and heritage tourism.