Uttar Pradesh: Purvanchal Expressway to be ready by July-end

LUCKNOW: The 340-km Purvanchal Expressway is expected to be ready by the end of July and could be made operational by August 15.
Industrial Development minister Satish Mahana said on Thursday that the road connecting Ghazipur in eastern Uttar Pradesh with Lucknow and then onward to Delhi (through Agra and Yamuna Expressways), is more than 95% complete despite the two waves of Covid-19 pandemic that have struck the state since last year. “We are carrying out work in such a way that by July end, it will be motorable and by August 15, we will be in position to start it in its entirety.
Despite Covid-19 issues, we have been able to complete the project in record time and have not exceeded the initial estimate of 36 months. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be starting a tree plantation drive along the expressway very soon as he is keen on developing it as a green expressway. We are getting eight petrol pumps started and amenities in place for the public,” said Awanish Awasthi, CEO, UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA).
Mahana spoke about the changes in the industrial sector which have been brought about by the BJP government, from land reforms in which land allocation has been made to industries like the Hiranandani Group for a data centre in 15 days, to bringing UP on the second position in ease of doing business rankings.
“Due to our proactive policies, we have managed to draw investors to the state. For the MoUs signed in the 2018 investors summit, we have a conversion rate of over 50% whereas anywhere else in the world it is not more than 15%. Earlier UP was importing ice cream sticks from China but now we are manufacturing them in the state. When the pandemic started, US was sending us ventilators but now UP can manufacture ventilators here itself,” the minister said.
Awasthi said that work on the Ganga Expressway was likely to start by September. He said that over the past three months, 83% of the land or 5,600 hectare had been acquired and by the beginning July, 90% of the land was available with the government.
“More than Rs 5,000 crore have been distributed to 63,500 farmers with not a single case of dispute. The project itself has an estimated cost of Rs 42,000 crore. The bidding process for this is on and we will be submitting the bidding documentation to the Cabinet very soon. By mid-August we should have the bids and work should start by September,” he said.
Mahana spoke about the changes in the industrial sector which have been brought about by the BJP government, from land reforms in which land allocation has been made to industries like the Hiranandani Group for a data centre in 15 days, to bringing UP on the second position in ease of doing business rankings.
“Due to our proactive policies, we have managed to draw investors to the state. For the MoUs signed in the 2018 investors summit, we have a conversion rate of over 50% whereas anywhere else in the world it is not more than 15%. Earlier UP was importing ice cream sticks from China but now we are manufacturing them in the state. When the pandemic started, the US was sending us ventilators but now UP can manufacture ventilators here itself,” the minister said.