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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated the Ganga Expressway in Uttar Pradesh's Hardoi district, built at a total cost of around Rs 36,230 crore.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Uttar Pradesh BJP President Pankaj Choudhary were also present on the occasion. According to the PMO, the Ganga Expressway is a 594-kilometre-long, six-lane (expandable to eight lanes), access-controlled greenfield high-speed corridor. The expressway traverses 12 districts- Meerut, Bulandshahr, Hapur, Amroha, Sambhal, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Raebareli, Pratapgarh, and Prayagraj-thereby connecting Western, Central, and Eastern regions of Uttar Pradesh through a single seamless high-speed corridor. The project is expected to significantly reduce travel time between Meerut and Prayagraj from the current 10-12 hours to approximately six hours, enhancing ease of movement and efficiency in transportation. A key highlight of the project is the provision of a 3.5 km-long Emergency Landing Facility (airstrip) in Shahjahanpur district. This dual-use infrastructure enhances national security preparedness and adds strategic value beyond economic benefits. The Ganga Expressway is envisioned as a major economic corridor, with the development of Integrated Manufacturing and Logistics Corridors over approximately 2,635 hectares across the 12 districts along its alignment. The expressway will reduce logistics costs, improve supply chain efficiency, and boost manufacturing competitiveness, a press release by the PMO stated. The project aims to provide farmers with direct access to urban and export markets, facilitating better price realisation and strengthening rural incomes. The project is also expected to boost tourism and generate direct and indirect employment opportunities across the region. The expressway will also serve as a backbone for a broader expressway network in the state, with several link corridors either operational or planned, including the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, Jewar Link Expressway, Farrukhabad Link Expressway, and the proposed extension from Meerut to Haridwar. This emerging expressway grid will expand high-speed road connectivity across Uttar Pradesh from East to West and from North to South, enabling balanced regional development. Prime Minister Modi also planted a sapling earlier today, in Hardoi. (ANI)
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