Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the 341-km long Purvanchal Expressway from UP’s Sultanpur District and said, “I am happy that today this region is writing a new chapter of development.”
“This expressway is UP’s pride and strength. This expressway will act like the path towards the development of Uttar Pradesh… Those who have any doubt on the capabilities of UP, on capabilities of people of UP should come to Sultanpur today to witness their capability. Such a modern expressway has now come up where it was just a piece of land 3-4 years back,” the Prime Minister said while addressing a massive gathering in UP’s Sultanpur district where the expressway was inaugurated.
Prime Minister Modi also thanked the farmers of UP for giving their piece of land for the development project of the expressway. The Purvanchal Expressway was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi in the presence of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Governor of UP, Anandiben Patel.
The foundation stone for the Purvanchal Expressway was laid by Modi in 2018 in Azamgarh. The 341-km long expressway will begin from the state capital of Lucknow and pass through UP’s important cities like Barabanki, Amethi, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Azamgarh, Mau and end at Ghazipur. The six-lane expressway was built with an estimated cost of 22,000 crores and the project was completed in a record time of three years.
The UP government in a press statement said that all the eight packages of the expressway were done through e-tendering and the lowest bidder was selected, which had given the UPEIDA (Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority) a profit of Rs 614 crore.
“Despite the blockade caused by Covid-19 pandemic, the construction of the expressway is being attempted by the builders of all the packages to get the pre pandemic progress rate. The total physical progress of the project is 100%,” the press statement of the UP government said.
The Purvanchal expressway also has a 3.2 km long air strip built in the Sultanpur area for emergency landing of Airforce planes. The Prime Minister on Tuesday arrived at this airstrip on the expressway on an Indian Air Force’s C-130 J Super Hercules aircraft. Prime Minister Modi also witnessed an air show displayed by the Airforce at the Purvanchal expressway. From Sukhoi to Mirage, each displayed its might and capabilities at the inauguration ceremony before the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister and the Governor of UP.
“The country’s security is as important as its prosperity. In a short while from now, we will see how Purvanchal Expressway has now become one more power for the Indian Air Force in cases of emergency. Our fighter plane will land on the expressway shortly,” the Prime Minister said during the inauguration ceremony.
As part of the development project, the UP government has also proposed to make Industrial hubs on both sides of the expressway and the UP government is hoping that through this expressway and the Agra-Lucknow expressway as well as the Yamuna expressway UP will usher in a new chapter of development in the history of UP.
This project was unveiled at a crucial time when the state is just months away from the Assembly polls. Political experts and observers say that this inauguration project by the Prime Minister was in a way the inauguration ceremony for the campaigning of the BJP for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls.
The BJP is targeting the Purvanchali voters as its crucial vote bank and has not left any stone unturned to attack the previous governments for leaving this part of UP as the most underdeveloped region in the state.