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The Uttar Pradesh government has expedited the process of land acquisition for the flagship 91-km link expressway connecting Gorakhpur with the Purvanchal Expressway.
The mega project spanning four districts viz. Gorakhpur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar and Azamgarh, is estimated to cost more than Rs 5,800 crore. It is estimated to benefit a total population of five crore in Gorakhpur and adjoining districts by providing fast connectivity for public and movement of goods, including agricultural and industrial.
UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), the nodal agency executing the project, has released Rs 275 crore to speed up land acquisition for the infra project, which is among the flagship projects of the Yogi Adityanath government.
According to UPEIDA CEO Awanish Kumar Awasthi, of the Rs 275 crore, Rs 50 crore, Rs 153 crore and Rs 52 crore would be paid to the land owners in Gorakhpur, Ambedkar Nagar and Azamgarh districts respectively. He said the funds had already been allocated to the respective district magistrates with the rider to settle land acquisition dues of farmers within a month so that the ongoing civil and other construction works on the expressway continued without delay and there were no pending grievances of the land owners.
The Gorakhpur Link Expressway is divided into two packages.
Earlier, Punjab National Bank (PNB) had provided a credit of Rs 750 crore for Gorakhpur Link Expressway, which would link the region with the 340 km Purvanchal Expressway.
So far, the state government has arranged Rs 2,250 crore in total loans for the Gorakhpur Link Expressway, including Rs 750 crore fresh borrowings from the PNB.
While the PNB has provided a loan of Rs 750 crore for Gorakhpur Link Expressway, earlier Rs 2,300 crore was also extended in credit for Purvanchal Expressway, estimated to cost Rs 23,000 crore. The Purvanchal Expressway was divided into eight packages and awarded to different companies for ensuring time-bound completion. It runs across nine districts viz. Lucknow, Barabanki, Faizabad, Ambedkarnagar, Amethi, Sultanpur, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur.
The Gorakhpur Link Expressway is the fifth greenfield expressway project in the state after the Yamuna Expressway, Agra-Lucknow Expressway, Purvanchal Expressway and Bundelkhand Expressway. Another mega project, the Ganga Expressway, has been proposed by the UP government and the bidding process for it is likely to begin soon. The government is also actively providing construction-related jobs to migrant workers in these infra projects.
The UPEIDA has estimated the civil work and land cost of the 628-km Ganga Expressway project at Rs 21,000 crore and Rs 9,000 crore respectively, thus totalling Rs 30,000 crore. The Ganga Expressway will entail acquisition of 6,556 hectares of land and traverse Meerut, Amroha, Bulandshahar, Budaun, Shahjahanpur, Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Kannauj, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh and Prayagraj districts.