UP steers clears ₹1.3 lakh-cr road & highway projects

The Uttar Pradesh government has restarted roads, highways and bridge projects involving investments of over ₹1.3 lakh crore. To start with, the state has fast tracked projects worth ₹31,400 crore under the ambit of the UP public works department (PWD) and UP Bridge Corporation and Rajkiya Nirman Nigam (RNN). Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that the projects will not just improve the economic activities across the state but also provided employment opportunities to laborers. The PWD department accounts for 1,539 projects worth ₹13,660 crore, followed by RNN with 241 projects of ₹13,260 crore. The remaining projects fall under the purview of the UP Bridge Corporation. However, the process of resuming the stalled projects was set rolling from April 20 in phases by conforming to the social distancing protocols. Meanwhile, the state CM has also expedited three mega expressway projects with more than ₹42,500 crore viz. 340 km Purvanchal Expressway, 296 km Bundelkhand Expressway and 91 km Gorakhpur Link Expressway, which are estimated to cost ₹23,000 crore, ₹15,000 crore and ₹4,600 crore, respectively. The UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) has also launched other mega expressway projects like the 628 km long Ganga Expressway.