UP Cabinet clears construction of ₹36,230-cr Ganga expressway

Uttar Pradesh Government has approved the construction of ₹36,230 crore 594-km Ganga Expressway, the longest road link in the country. It approved the Request for Proposal (RFP) and Request for Quotation (RFQ) of four packages to pave way for the six-lane expressway construction. The state CM directed all concerned departments, including UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), to work in mission mode to execute the project between Meerut and Prayagraj covering the districts of Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Sambhal, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh and Prayagraj along the River Ganga. Cabinet Minister Siddharth Nath Singh informed that with the completion of the project, economic activities in UP will increase. Around ₹19,754 crore has been provisioned for civil work, while ₹9,255 crore is for land acquisition. More than 92 per cent of the land has already been acquired. Ganga Expressway will be of six lanes and can be increased to eight lanes in the future. A 30-year agreement has been signed for the project to be built on the PPP model. There will also be an airstrip and industrial clusters along with it, while public utilities will be set up at nine places.