PM Modi to inaugurate Bundelkhand Expressway today

The 296-km, four-lane expressway has been constructed at a cost of around Rs 14,850 crores, under the aegis of Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), and it can later be expanded up to six lanes as well.

It extends from NH-35 at Gonda village near Bharatkoop in Chitrakoot district to near Kudrail village in Etawah district, where it merges with the Agra-Lucknow expressway.

It passes through seven districts, viz. Chitrakoot, Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Auraiya and Etawah.

The foundation stone for the construction of Bundelkhand Expressway was laid by the Prime Minister on Feb 29, 2020.

The work on the Expressway has been completed within 28 months and it will now be inaugurated by the Prime Minister, the PMO said.

Along with improving connectivity in the region, the Bundelkhand Expressway will also give a major boost to economic development, resulting in the creation of thousands of jobs for the local people, the PMO said.

Work on the creation of an industrial corridor in Banda and Jalaun districts, next to the Expressway, has already been started, it added.

The Budgetary allocation of Rs 1.99 lakh crore to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in Budget 2022-23 is the highest ever which indicates government's increasing focus on connectivity. This is a jump of over 550 per cent when compared to the allocation of about Rs 30,300 crore in 2013-14.

The Ministry claims that in the last 7 years, the length of NHs in the country has gone up by more than 50 per cent from 91,287 km (as on April 2014) to around 1,41,000 km (as on 31 December 2021). The pace of construction of NHs increased from 12 km per day to 37 km per day in 2020-21.