Ganga Expressway Inaugurated To Boost Uttar Pradesh Connectivity

05 May 2026 CW Team

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 594 km access-controlled greenfield Ganga Expressway at Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh and characterised the region as a pilgrimage area blessed by the river's spiritual and nurturing grace. He linked the new highway to faster travel to sacred destinations and presented the expressway as a new lifeline for the state's development.

He placed the project within a broader push for modern infrastructure and described emerging expressways as lifelines shaping a developing India. The government noted the expressway is the country's longest green corridor and reported its completion in less than five years, underlining an accelerated pace of construction.

Officials explained that the route spans western Uttar Pradesh's commercial centres, traverses central agricultural districts and reaches eastern cultural sites, directly affecting millions (mn) of citizens across 12 districts. They emphasised that improved logistics and connectivity will ease market access for farmers, bolster incomes and facilitate the growth of manufacturing clusters for pharmaceuticals, textiles, handlooms, leather goods and handicrafts, supporting small industries and MSMEs under schemes such as Mudra Yojana and One District One Product.

The Prime Minister framed the expressway as part of a strategy to transform Uttar Pradesh into a manufacturing hub and to harness the demographic dividend, noting the state is contributing to India's position as the second-largest mobile manufacturer. He highlighted advances in semiconductor capacity following a Noida groundbreaking, the presence of a defence corridor with major manufacturers and the expansion of the airport network to 21 operational airports including five international facilities near the corridor. He expressed confidence that the expressway will open new industrial and employment opportunities and that the people of Uttar Pradesh will convert those opportunities into tangible prosperity.

Technology

12 Jun 2026

LTTS Partners with Databricks to Advance Industrial AI

L&T Technology Services (LTTS) has entered a strategic partnership with Databricks to co-develop Industrial AI solutions for asset-intensive industries, including energy, petrochemicals, and manufacturing. The collaboration leverages LTTS’ engineering expertise across 600+ major plants with Databricks’ AI and analytics platform to convert operational data into actionable Engineering Intelligence.The partnership will deliver solutions spanning Predictive Asset Reliability, Energy & Emissions Optimisation, Overall Equipment Effectiveness, Production and Quality Intelligence, and Sust..

Opptra Partners with Unicommerce to Scale AI-Driven E-Commerce

Opptra, the AI-native e-commerce distributor founded by Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, has partnered with Unicommerce to enhance operations across India, the GCC, and Southeast Asia. The collaboration integrates Opptra’s brand expansion expertise with Unicommerce’s AI-led Uniware platform, enabling centralised management of orders, inventory, and fulfilment across warehouses, stores, and sales channels.Opptra retains full commercial ownership of online brand operations, from marketplace strategy and pricing to fulfilment and customer service. Leveraging Unicommerce’s 350+ integrations..

AHS Properties Acquires Shangri-La Hotel for AED 1.1 Billion

AHS Properties has acquired the Shangri-La Hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road for AED 1.1 billion from Mismak Asset Management, marking one of the largest single-asset real estate deals in recent history. The 43-floor, 200-metre tower, completed in 2003, was among the first five-star hotels on the corridor.This acquisition complements AHS Tower and AHS City, forming a vertical corridor strategy that represents a substantial portion of the developer’s AED 50 billion year-end 2026 pipeline. Founder and CEO Abbas Sajwani described the purchase as a long-term investment in structurally constrained asset..