Snapshot
Uttar Pradesh has seen major investments in infrastructure over the years, and this year will be no different. Here is a list projects that will get underway this year.
In the last six years, Uttar Pradesh has witnessed unprecedented investment in infrastructure from both the central and the state governments. Roads and expressways in particular have received much attention — UP now has the longest e-way network in the country.
The trend will continue in 2023, with work on at least eight major infrastructure projects set to begin this year.
1) Ganga Expressway
The construction of six-lane Ganga Expressway will begin in 2023.
The preparatory work for the greenfield expressway is gaining pace, with clearing and grubbing work done on 500 km out of the total 593.94 km, as on 27 December 2022. In November 2022, IRB Infrastructure Developers and Adani Enterprises Limited had emerged as the preferred bidders for the expressway’s development.
While the Adani Group will build around 80 per cent of the expressway — the 464 km stretch between Budaun in the western part of the state to Prayagraj in the eastern part, IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited will develop the 129.7 km stretch from Meerut to Badaun.
The six-lane (expandable to eight lane) expressway starts from NH-334 near Meerut and terminates at NH-19 in Prayagraj.
Traversing through 12 districts — Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Sambhal, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareilly, Pratapgarh and Prayagraj — the fully access controlled expressway would connect the north eastern and south western parts of the state.
2) Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway
PNC Infratech, which emerged as the lowest bidder for the Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway in February 2022, is set to start work on the project this year. The 62 km long, six-lane (expandable to eight) access controlled expressway will be constructed at an overall cost of over Rs 4,000 crore.
The expressway will start near the Amar Shaheed Path in south Lucknow and terminate at Azad Marg Chauraha near Kanpur’s Ganga Bridge. It will come up parallel to NH-27, which connects Kanpur and Lucknow. There will be a distance of about 8.5 km between the two roads.
NHAI invited tenders for the construction of both the packages under the hybrid annuity mode in September 2021. As many as 13 companies had placed bids for both the packages of the expressway.
The project has a completion deadline of December 2025. The concessionaire will have to maintain the project for 17.5 years.
3) Kanpur Outer Ring Road
Work on the Kanpur Outer Ring Road will pick up pace this year with the construction work between Sachendi and Mandhana set to start this year.
The NHAI has invited bids for 23.32-km-long Sachendi–Mandhana Road. The stretch is to be built in the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode.
The six lane, 93.21-km-long greenfield highway passes through three districts of the state, namely, Kanpur Nagar (62 km), Unnao (27 km) and Kanpur Dehat (4 km).
The project shall be further connected to the major highways connecting the city. These include NH-19 from Delhi to Kolkata via Kanpur and Varanasi; NH-34 from Gangotri to Lakhnadon via Haridwar, Kanpur and Jabalpur and NH-27 from Porbandar to Silchar.
4) Kashi Station Redevelopment
The Indian Railways has decided to undertake the major upgradation of Kashi Railway Station through engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract. It issued a request for proposal (RFP) in December last year.
The project, which is estimated to cost Rs 328 crore and has a construction period of 30 months, aims to create a railway station that is modern yet connected to the city’s traditions. The last date for the submission of bids for the project is 14 February 2023.
The plan includes the relocation of certain station functions and amenities for better utilisation of the premises. These include consolidation of railway offices and the creation of two station buildings, one on the south-west and one on the north-east side of the tracks, to split the flow of traffic and improve circulation.
Other additions include covered platforms, new arrival foot overbridge, refurbishment of existing infrastructure, and a concourse that provides connectivity to the south-west and north-east station buildings by lifts, escalators, and connecting corridors.
5) Kashi Ropeway
Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh is set to become the first Indian city to use the ropeway services in public transportation.
The cost of the project will be divided between the Centre and the state government at 80:20. Varanasi Development Authority floated the tender for the project on 13 November last year.
The pilot ropeway service will cover a distance of 5 km. It will deploy 220 cable cars with each cable car having 10 seats. The main terminus of the ropeway will be at Cantonment Railway Station while other stations will be at Sajan, Rathyatra and Girjaghar (Godowlia) crossings. The stations built for the ropeway will show a glimpse of Kashi’s art religion and culture.
The cars will move in a gap of 90 seconds to 120 seconds. Around 4,000 people will be able to travel in one direction at a time. The ropeway service will also operate during the night.
6) Varanasi Kolkata Expressway
The construction of the 610-km-long six-lane Varanasi-Ranchi-Kolkata greenfield expressway could begin later this month.
The expressway has been planned under the second phase of the Bharatmala Pariyojna. Starting at the junction of NH 19 and Varanasi Ring Road, it will pass through Bihar and Jharkhand, before terminating at NH 16 near Uluberia in Howrah district of West Bengal.
The NHAI has already floated global bids to build 160-km initial stretch, starting from Varanasi.
The expressway will be built under the hybrid annuity mode.
In this model, the NHAI, on behalf of the government, releases 40 per cent of the total project cost. It is given in five tranches linked to milestones. The balance 60 per cent is arranged by the developer.
7) Gorakhpur-Siliguri Expressway
Work on the 519 km long greenfield expressway connecting Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh with Siliguri in West Bengal is also set to begin this year.
Around 84 km of this four-lane expressway would pass through UP in Gorakhpur, Deoria and Kushinagar districts before entering Bihar.
It will pass through 10 districts of Bihar — Gopalganj, Siwan, Chhapra, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Supaul, Saharsa, Purnia, and Kishanganj — before reaching Siliguri.
The NHAI has finalised the alignment for the expressway and work tender for the project shall be awarded in the next few months.
The expressway, once operationalised, will provide a direct link for out bound traffic from North East region towards northern India including the national capital, Punjab and Haryana.
8) Ghaziabad Station Redevelopment
The Ghaziabad Railway Station redevelopment project will gather pace this year. The project, which is estimated to cost Rs 362 crore, will take approximately 30 months to complete.
The project includes the addition of two additional storeys to the single-storey station, the construction of foot overbridges (FOBs), a food plaza, approach roads, escalators, automatic ticket vending machines, and a multi-level parking facility.
The station will also be integrated with bus stations, and a signal training school and 96 railway quarters will be constructed as part of the project.
As part of the redevelopment project, the administrative offices located on platforms three and four will be shifted to the entry points of the station, and a concourse level will be created where waiting rooms will be built for passengers.
The railway officials have also planned a 24-metre skywalk to integrate six existing platforms and two FOBs with ramp facilities for easy commuting. A dedicated lane for e-buses will also be created within the station premises as a part of the project, which will play a key role in decongesting railway stations in Delhi.