Nitin Gadkari inaugurates 16 highway projects in Uttar Pradesh

NEW DELHI: India’s Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Minister Nitin Gadkari has called upon the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Government to exempt toll plaza agreements from stamp duty in the State. He also asked for expediting land acquisition for developing National Highways, as is being done in some of the States.

The Minister also requested the State Government to consider halving the Utility Shifting Supervision Charge from 5 per cent to 2.5 per cent on the lines being done by other States. He called for quick disbursal of land acquisition compensation for expediting the NH projects in the State.

The Union Minister was speaking after virtually inaugurating and laying the foundation stones of 16 National Highway projects with a total length of over 500 kms worth Rs 7477 crore in Uttar Pradesh today. The event was presided by the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in the presence of Union MoS Gen (Retd) Dr V K Singh, Deputy Chief Minister of UP Keshav Prasad Maurya, Ministers from the State, Members of Parliament, MLAs and senior officers from the Centre and the State.

Gadkari said, about 3700 km NH length worth Rs 42,000 crore has been added in Uttar Pradesh in the last six years. Today, there are over 11,389 kms of NHs in the State, and roads worth Rs 1.3 lakh crore are being constructed in UP.

He informed that as much as Rs 26,000 crore have been disbursed towards land acquisition cost in the State during last three years. He said, upgradation and development of NHs will improve connectivity to all the districts and major cities of the State.

Gadkari said, CRF works worth Rs 15,439 have been sanctioned since 2014 in the State. He said, Rs 4628 crore have been released till last year under the scheme, while another over Rs 287 crore were sanctioned in the current year and has today approved releasing Rs 280 crore more. The Minister assured that the amount will be released soon after receiving proposals from the State.

The Minister said, NH works of 2,900 km worth Rs 65,000 crore will be completed in the current year in UP. Another 1100 km length of Rs 14,000 crore are targeted to be awarded this year. Further, DPRs are under preparation for 3500 km length at a cost of about Rs 50,000 crore, he said.The Minister said, NH works amounting to Rs two lakh crore are being undertaken in UP.

The Minister informed that construction of 133 km 4-lane Greenfield project worth Rs 3652 crore between Ghazipur-Ballia-Mazhighat is under consideration. DPR is also being prepared for the 98 km 4-lane PrayagrajRingroad costing Rs 7,000 crore. It will be made in 3 phases, under the first phase, a 27 km Greenfield bypass from Dandupur to Sansor will be constructed at a cost of Rs 2,500 crore.

This will include a 2 5 km bridge over river Ganga. Other projects under consideration include Sitarganj-Barelli 74 km 4-lane, Mathura-Hathras-Badayun-Barelli 228 km 4-lane, Agra-Aligarh 81 km 4-lane, Agra-Jalesar 87 km 2-lane with paved shoulders, Shahjahanpur-Hardoi-Lucknow 270 km 2-4 lane, Raibareli-Prayagraj 105 km 4-lane widening, and Lucknow-Kanpur-Karvi-Chhatarpur-Sagar 335 km for UP-MP connectivity.

Union Minister of State for RTH Gen (Retd) Dr Singh said, the projects, on completion, will provide faster and hassle-free inter-state and inter-district connectivity, and will be a major stride towards strengthening tourism sector of the State. The new projects will provide better connectivity, fast and safe movement of traffic to various tourist places, historical places and religious places in the entire State.

They are likely to generate large number of employment and self-employment opportunities to the unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled manpower of the region. The projects will reduce travel time and maintenance cost of the vehicles and saving of fuel. Implementation of the project would result in enhanced socio-economic conditions of the locality.

These will improve transport of agricultural goods and access to greater markets, thereby reducing the cost of goods and services. These will also create easy and speedy access to health care and emergency services. In a nut shell, after completion of the above projects there will be quantum jump in the development of tourism, economic and international connectivity of this region. Finally, it will give impetus to the GDP of the State.

Chief Minister Adityanath also addressed the event. He said, the people of UP are indebted to the Centre for having prioritized it for development.

He said, the new roads will be a boon for the people as these will provide all-weather connectivity in the State. Dy CM of UP  Keshav Prasad  also complimented the central government for significant push to road projects in the State.

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