Hardoi/Lucknow | Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated the 594-km-long Ganga Expressway, a mega infrastructure project connecting Meerut to Prayagraj.
The PM reached Hardoi district around noon and inaugurated the expressway with the touch of a button in presence of Governor Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, among others.
The high-speed corridor is expected to significantly boost connectivity across Uttar Pradesh, while giving impetus to industrial investment, logistics, agricultural marketing and regional balance.
Adityanath, in a post on X, said the state's development journey would gain new momentum with the inauguration of the expressway from Hardoi.
He described the six-lane (expandable to eight) expressway as a "lifeline" connecting villages, farmers, entrepreneurs and youth, and said, "it would play a key role in accelerating development and bridging distances".
Union Minister and BJP's Uttar Pradesh president Pankaj Chaudhary said it is of the longest expressways in the country and a gift of modern infrastructure to the state.
The expressway connects 12 key districts of Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Sambhal, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh and Prayagraj and is expected to significantly reduce travel time while ensuring faster, safer and more convenient movement, it stated.
Developed under a public-private partnership model, the project has been constructed as a six-lane expressway with provision for expansion to eight lanes, with a design speed of 120 kmph, it added.
One of its key features is a 3.2-km-long airstrip near Shahjahanpur for emergency landing of Air Force aircraft. The expressway is also equipped with an Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS), CCTV surveillance, emergency call boxes, ambulances and patrolling units to ensure safety, according to the statement.
It stated that integrated manufacturing and logistics clusters (IMLCs) are being developed along the corridor, with facilities such as warehouses, cold storage units and food processing hubs aimed at attracting investment and generating employment.
The expressway will also be connected to other major corridors, including the Purvanchal, Agra-Lucknow, Bundelkhand and Gorakhpur Link expressways, creating a vast interconnected network, the statement said.
Authorities said the project is expected to generate large-scale employment opportunities and play a crucial role in advancing Uttar Pradesh's goal of becoming a trillion-dollar economy, it added.