PM Modi inaugurates Purvanchal Expressway

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 16, 2021, inaugurated the Purvanchal Expressway — an infrastructure project that has been termed as ‘the spine of the economy of the eastern Uttar Pradesh’ by state chief minister Yogi Adityanath. With the opening of Uttar Pradesh’s longest expressway project, cities in the eastern part of UP would get a direct connection with state capital Lucknow.

Earlier, the PM arrived arrived in Sultanpur in a C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft to mark the event—the Purvanchal Expressway boats a 3.3-km airstrip  at Karwal Kheri in Sultanpur that allows fighter aircraft to make emergency landings.

Modi also addressed a public meeting after inaugurating the expressway, and watched a 45-minute air show organised by the Indian Air Force (IAF), in which planes such as Sukhoi, Mirage, Rafale and AN 32 are included.

All about Purvanchal Expressway

If connectivity networks are telling signs of a state’s economic progress, the Uttar Pradesh government has been taking significant efforts to upgrade its road networks. The upcoming Purvanchal Expressway is a case in point.

Purvanchal Expressway route

The 343-km highway will start at Chand Saray village in Lucknow, located on the Lucknow-Sultanpur road (NH-731) and terminate at Ghazipur’s Hydaria village, located on NH31. In the middle, the Purvanchal expressway route also has Barabanki, Amethi, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Ambedkarnagar and Mau. In effect, the Purvanchal expressway to connect nine districts in UP. It will also be connected with other cities of religious importance like Varanasi, Ayodhya and Gorakhpur though link roads.

The expressway will not only reduce the travel time between Ghazipur to Lucknow by half – from 12 to six hours – but also provide direct connectivity from these cities to the national capital. Once completed, it would be only a 10-hour drive from Ghazipur to Delhi.

Recall here that Uttar Pradesh’s capital Lucknow is already directly connected with Delhi through the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, the Yamuna Expressway and the Agra-Lucknow Expressway. A proposal is also in the works, expand the Purvanchal Expressway route and to connect it with Bihar from Ghazipur.

See also: All you need to know about the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway

Purvanchal Expressway construction status

In October 2015, the Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh relaunched the previous government’s Lucknow-Azamgarh-Ballia Expressway as the Purvanchal Expressway. In July 2018, PM Modi laid the foundation stone for the expressway in Azamgarh. Developed by the Uttar Pradesh Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), the six-lane access-controlled Purvanchal Expressway was earlier expected to be completed by March 2021. However, the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic, which forced Uttar Pradesh to introduce fragmented lockdowns, delayed the works.

Purvanchal Expressway significance

The Purvanchal Expressway is one of the four six-lane access-controlled expressways (the Bundelkhand Expressway, the Gorakhpur Link Expressway and the Ganga Expressway being the other three) that are likely to remarkably transform Uttar Pradesh, making it the state with the largest expressway network in India. Upon completion of these four expressway projects, Uttar Pradesh will boast of 1,788 kms of expressways, the highest in the country.

The Purvanchal Expressway is going to give a boost to the economic development of eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, especially the districts of Lucknow, Barabanki, Amethi, Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur. This is also evident from the fact that CM Adityanath has said that eight industrial hubs will be established along the Purvanchal Expressway.

See also: Upcoming expressways in India

Purvanchal Expressway construction cost

Estimated to cost Rs 22,496 crores, the Purvanchal Expressway not only connects several central districts of the state with the eastern ones but also places these districts in a direct road connectivity network leading to the national capital Delhi. The expressway, with seven bridges and 22 flyovers, also boasts an airstrip that would allow emergency landing of flights.

Purvanchal Expressway map

(Source: UPEIDA)

See also: All you need to know about Agra Lucknow Expressway

Purvanchal Expressway toll

Initially, commuters will not have to pay any toll on the Purvanchal expressway.

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