On 16th November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the new 340-kilometer long Purvanchal Expressway in Uttar Pradesh. The expressway will run from Lucknow’s Chand Sarai village to Ghazipur and will connect nine districts including Lucknow, Barabanki, Amethi, Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau, and Ghazipur Via link road.
The expressway will connect prominent cities like Ayodhya, Varanasi, Allahabad, and Gorakhpur. This will not only decrease travel between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh but will also reduce the travel time between Delhi and Bihar. The Purvanchal Expressway will cut the Delhi-Bihar travel time to around 12 hours from 18-20 hours.
The expressway has cost around INR 42,000 crores. A tweet by the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) reads, “The much-awaited #Purvanchal_Expressway will open new doors for development in the eastern part of #UttarPradesh and will play an imp role as a #Corridor to connect Bihar to Delhi.” PM Modi had led the foundation of the expressway in July 2018 and in 2020, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar requested for the extension of the expressway to connect Bihar directly to New Delhi.
As per sources, the Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh has claimed that the expressway will promote industrial activities, generate employment opportunities and also boost Purvanchal’s development. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has stated that the expressway’s extension will promote trade and agricultural activities in Bihar as well.
