Work on the 594 km long Ganga Expressway in Uttar Pradesh is progressing quickly, with 56.6 per cent of clearing and grubbing (C&G) work done.
According to the latest progress report of Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), C&G work is done on 336 km out of the total 594 km of the expressway.
The six-lane Ganga expressway will be built at over Rs 36,200 crore cost. The project has been divided into four groups to expedite work, each consisting of three packages.
While IRB bagged group 1 to be built with Rs 6,538 crore, Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) has won contracts from UPEIDA to build three groups of the Ganga Expressway project in a deal worth Rs 17,085.16 crore.
IRB, which deals with group 1 of the project, has completed 75.6 per cent of C&G work. On the other hand, the Adani group has completed 69 per cent, 50 per cent and 35 per cent of group 2, group 3 and group 4 of the project, respectively.
Being the largest expressway planned in the state, the Ganga expressway is expected to play a key role in CM Yogi Adityanath’s plan to make Uttar Pradesh into a USD one trillion economy.
Traversing through 12 districts — Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Sambhal, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareilly, Pratapgarh and Prayagraj — the expressway would connect the eastern and western parts of the state.
This expressway reduces travel time between Delhi and Prayagraj by half from 10-11 hours to just 6-7 hours.
Also, the state government has plans to extend the expressway at both ends — by 110 km from Meerut to Tigri on the Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand border and by 314 km from Prayagraj to Ballia, in the second phase of the project.