UP has Rs 20,000 cr worth road works underway

In Uttrar Pradesh, road projects worth about Rs 20,000 crore are either underway or in the pipeline. The road projects pertain to both State highways and road projects of the UP State Highways Authority (UPSHA). UP has one of the largest road networks in India measuring 1,33,122 km, which includes national/state highways, district and rural roads.

Of this, 5,570 km and 8,551 km pertain to national and State highways respectively.

While four highway upgradation projects spanning 462 km, worth Rs 3,868 crore, are underway, 17 road projects spanning 1,800 km and worth Rs 16,000 crore proposed by UPSHA are in different stages, including bidding or feasibility. Poor roads and power infrastructure have often been cited as a major hurdle in the path of UP’s rapid industrial development.

The State highway upgradation projects include the Delhi-Saharanpur-Yamunori Road (Rs 1,718 crore), Bareilly-Almora Road (Rs 354 crore), Varanasi-Shaktinagar Road (Rs 1,212 crore) and Meerut-Karnal Road (Rs 583 crore). In the recently-held CII Agra Summit, UP had highlighted these projects to attract investors and industrialists with the promise of continually improving infrastructure.

Besides, UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) has proposed an access controlled expressway between Agra and Lucknow spanning 270 km. It would provide seamless connectivity from Lucknow to the National Capital Region (NCR) via the operational Yamuna Expressway between Agra and Greater Noida.