Ganga Expressway worth ₹36,230-cr gets eco clearance

The Ganga Expressway with a length of 594 km and costing ₹36,230-crore has secured environmental clearance. With 94% land acquired for the six-lane, access-controlled greenfield project for which all the statutory clearances have been put in place and is likely to begin soon and would be completed in 2025 as the contractor has a deadline to finish the project in 36 months. Once operational, the expressway will reduce travel time between Delhi and Prayagraj from the current 10-11 hours to just 6-7 hours and would connect Meerut in the western part of Uttar Pradesh to Prayagraj in the east and is being executed on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. UPEIDA has managed to secure a loan of ₹4,480 crore from PNB. While IRB Infrastructure Developers will build one of the four packages from Meerut to Amroha, Adani Enterprises will execute three packages from Amroha to Prayagra and IRB will build 134 km of the expressway, Adani Enterprises will construct the remaining 460 km. The expressway will change the landscape of the eastern part of the state. It will act as an industrial corridor and connect far-flung production units and agricultural production centres to the national capital.