LUCKNOW: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said road projects worth Rs 5 lakh crore will be completed in Uttar Pradesh over the next two years, and announced new such projects worth Rs 50,000-60,000 crore for the state.
Speaking after inaugurating and laying the foundation stone of three National Highway projects worth over Rs 4,850 crore, Gadkari said all new projects discussed with state officials had been approved.
Calling infrastructure the foundation of economic development, he said better roads boost trade, industry, investment and employment while helping reduce poverty and unemployment.
Gadkari said UP’s pace of development had accelerated after 2014 and described the state as the “heart of India”, asserting that India’s growth was closely linked to its progress.
The minister also announced the widening of the Lucknow-Sitapur highway to six lanes at an estimated cost of Rs 1,200 crore, reducing travel time from two hours to about 50 minutes.
He said he recently travelled from Kanpur to Lucknow in just 22 minutes. He also said the Centre was exploring electric mass rapid transit systems, including ropeways and elevated electric buses, while noting that metro projects do not fall under his ministry’s mandate.
‘World-class connectivity Centre’s top priority’
Union minister Nitin Gadkari said developing world-class road connectivity in Uttar Pradesh was among the Centre’s top priorities, while CM Yogi Adityanath asserted that the state’s expanding highway network would accelerate investment, industry, tourism and employment.
