Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to launch the much-talked about Varanasi-Prayagraj expressway or the Ganga Expressway by the end of this month during his visit to Varanasi.
Once completed, the 1,020 km-long Ganga expressway will be the longest expressway in the country and is estimated to cost over INR 37,000 crore. Earlier this year in January, the Uttar Pradesh government granted its approval to the project.
The expressway is said to span across 6,556 hectares of land. As per reports, the highway project is scheduled to be developed in two phases.
Phase I of the Ganga Expressway will cover 596 km and connect Meerut, Jyotibha Phule Nagar, Hapur, Sambhal, Budaun, Shahjahanpur, Furrukhabad, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareilly, Pratapgarh and Prayagraj districts. There will be five major bridges, eight road-overbridges and 18 flyovers. The expressway will have six-lane, expandable to eight lanes, fully access-controlled expressway connecting west UP with east UP.
Phase two of the expressway will have a 110 km long road stretch developed from Tigri to Uttar Pradesh-Uttarakhand border and another road stretch of 314 km from Prayagraj to Ballia.
The expressway is deemed to act as a link that will connect other expressways in the state through Lucknow-Agra expressway, Purvanchal Expressway and Ballia Link Expressway
The total cost of construction for the first phase of the project is pegged at INR 37,350 crore of which INR 9,500 crore will be spent on the acquisition of land and INR 24,091 on the construction works. The project will be funded by 70% debt and 30% equity.
Earlier, UP CM Yogi Adityanath had stressed on how development of infrastructure projects figured as the top priority of the state government.
The Ganga expressway will start from NH-235, near Shankarpur village in Meerut and will end at NH-330 near Soraon in Prayagraj district.
Uttar Pradesh Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) chairman A Awanish Awasthi shared that the survey of every village in western UP has been done and a comprehensive action plan is ready.
The UP government is planning on laying the foundation stone of the Ganga expressway in June 2021, as per sources.
