Expressways pave the way for Uttar Pradesh's trillion-dollar dream

Uttar Pradesh (UP) may still have a lot of catching up to do with the rest of the country on social parameters, but it is giving others tough competition in one area — roads. In Yogi Adityanath’s UP, expressways are scripting a silent transformation in the state otherwise known for its abysmal infrastructure (infra).

Owning the largest network of operational and under-construction expressways in India, UP is looking to leverage these mega infra projects to reinforce industrial development.

According to officials, UP accounts for nearly 38 per cent of the total expressway network in the country. The expressway projects criss-crossing the state are worth more than Rs 1 trillion in investment.

The state government is working on a multi-pronged strategy to harness the economic potential of expressways by developing industrial corridors, food processing hubs, warehouses, cold-chain infra, and real estate arcades along their routes.

While four mega expressway projects — 340-kilometre (km) Purvanchal Expressway, 302-km Agra-Lucknow Expressway, 296-km Bundelkhand Expressway, and 165-km Yamuna (Taj) Expressway — have already been commissioned, two others, including the 600-km Ganga Expressway and the 91-km Gorakhpur Link Expressway, are on track.

While outlining his government’s aim to turn UP into Uttam Pradesh and then Sarvottam Pradesh through infra development, UP Industrial Development Minister Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’ said Yogi 2.0 firmly believes that the state become a $1-trillion economy, aiming to contribute one-fifth to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of making India a $5-trillion economy by 2025.

Prime Minister (PM0 Narendra Modi, while addressing a public meeting in his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi on November 30 last year, waxed eloquent on the Yogi Adityanath government, saying UP had earned the sobriquet of ‘Express Pradesh’ owing to the rapid pace of infra projects, particularly expressways.

A number of high-ticket projects for sectors such as textile, manufacturing, food processing, micro, small and medium enterprises, housing, information technology, and tourism have been planned in the vicinity of the expressway projects.

On July 16, the PM had inaugurated the Bundelkhand Expressway and dwelled on its potential to spur economic activity in the Bundelkhand region, as well as increase bandwidth of the ambitious UP Defence Corridor across six nodes of Agra, Aligarh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Chitrakoot, and Jhansi.

“Expressways are not merely a means to connect places. They are being developed as industrial hubs,” said UP Additional Chief Secretary and UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority Chief Executive Officer Awanish Kumar Awasthi.

Acknowledging the contribution of expressways to UP’s socioeconomic development, the state had planned civil works for under-construction projects even during multiple waves of the pandemic.

Besides, the state government had proactively engaged with banks and lending institutions to ensure there were no funds constraints either.