Expressways in UP: A comparison of costs, time taken & their importance
Yogi govt expedited work on the highways construction and in just 36 months, completed the Purvanchal Expressway something unheard and unseen in previous regimes.
New Delhi: After coming to power in 2017, UP CM Yogi Adityanath has been going whole hog in building a strong network of highways and expressways in the state.
When Yogi-led BJP govt came to power in 2017, the state had 2 functional expressways — 165-kilometre-long Yamuna Expressway (linking Agra & Delhi) and 302 km Lucknow-Agra Expressway.
Yogi govt expedited work on the highways construction and in just 36 months, completed the Purvanchal Expressway something unheard and unseen in previous regimes. 340-km-long Purvanchal Expressway was inaugurated today while 296-km-long Bundelkhand Expressway and 91-km-long Gorakhpur Link Expressway are in advanced stages of construction. The 594-km-long Ganga Expressway is also in the works, with over 75% land acquisition completed for the mega project.
Here’s a comparison of various expressway projects in UP:
# Inaugurated Expressways:
1. Yamuna Expressway
Length : 165.5 km long access-controlled expressway
Cost (including land) : Rs 13000 crores
Route : connects Pari Chowk in Greater Noida with Kuberpur on NH-2 in Agra.
Status : Inaugurated by former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on 9 August 2012.
2. Agra-Lucknow Expressway
Length : 302 km, 6-lane wide access-controlled expressway
Cost (including land) : Rs. 13,200 crore
Route : connects Agra and Lucknow via Shikohabad, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur, Kannauj, Unnao and Lucknow.
Status : Inaugurated on 21 November 2016 by former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
3. Purvanchal Expressway
Length : 340.24 km
Cost (including land) : Rs 23,349 crore
Route : From Lucknow’s Chandsarai village to Ghazipur’s Haidaria village via Barabanki, Amethi, Sultanpur, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh and Mau.
Status : Inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 16, 2021.
# Under Construction Expressway:
1. Ganga Expressway
Length : 596 km
Cost (including land): Rs 36,230 crore
Route: Starting from Qila Parikshitgarh Road in Meerut to Amroha, Bulandshahr, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Kannauj, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh to Jhunsi-Sahason Road in Prayagraj.
Status : 93 per cent of required land has been purchased.
2. Bundelkhand Expressway
Length: 296.07 km
Cost (including land): Rs 14,894 crore
Route: From Bharatkup in Chitrakoot to the Agra-Lucknow Expressway near Bewar in Etawah, through Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jalaun and Auraiya.
Status: 70 per cent construction work completed.
3. Gorakhpur Link Expressway
Length: 91.352 km
Cost (including land): Rs 5,876.68 crore
Route: Starting from Jaitpur village of the Gorakhpur bypass, ending at the Purvanchal Expressway in Azamgarh via Ambedkar Nagar and Sant Kabir Nagar.
Status:75 per cent of construction work completed