Highway infrastructure in India is rapidly changing and showing good prospects in future. With NHAI’s and Government of India’s visionary project BharatMala Pariyojna Project. Indian State Uttar Pradesh will see the development of approx 1900Km of expressway network. Recently. NHAI is now going to invest upto 150 Billion for development of highway projects.
This metamorphic initiative aims to reduce travel time and increase economic growth. Uttar Pradesh is an important contributor to India’s Infrastructure Growth. One senior official of NHAI statement is”” Detailed project report for some are finalized others are in final stages of bidding.””
The ₹150 Billion I.nvestment Plan
NHAI is going to invest 150 Billion Rupees in Uttar Pradesh road Infrastructure for the growth of cargo and passenger traffic across Uttar Pradesh. Various districts are going to benefit from this plan which include Kanpur, Bairailey, Barabanki, Bharaich, Agra, Aligarh, Gorakhpur.
These two projects are going to decongest and organise the urban and good transportation. New road network infrastructure are going to be fast as well. Hence, they will reduce Travel time as well. More people can access good roadways and transportation for travelling purposes as well. Due to these projects will have 9 access control expressways spanning over 1900 Km. All these projects come under Bharatmala Pariyojna Total road construction is covering around 30 Km/day.
Lucknow – Kanpur expressway is going to complete by July 2025. This project is the most awaited project. This initiative will ease the congestion between the industrial capital of the state Kanpur and State Capital Lucknow. This project will also contribute to the industrial development of the overall state.
594 Km of Ganga expressway will launch by March or April 2025. Which can cost around 36, 000 crores, which will develop by Uttar Pradesh Expressway Development Authority (UPEDIA). Just like Agra – Lucknow Expressway and Purvanchal Expressways. Ganga Expressway is also going to get Airstrip for emergency uses of Indian Air Forces (IAF) planes.
Economic and Social Benefits of this Highway Infrastructure
According to NHAI data and survey, good road infrastructures can reduce the logistic costs up to 15% which will also lead to industries to transport goods more efficiently. Above mentioned districts will also get the benefit of reduced transit time by about 30%.
The initiative will also support the development of economic corridoors, such as the Gorakhpur link expressway. This is going to be a critical trade route for northeastern India. As per PRS India Report, these well developed corridors upto 1.5 – 2% additional GDP growth through improved trade dynamics. The state currently manages about 47 percent of India’s expressway network.
Key Challenges
Main primary challenges which NHAI faces due to which delay occurs is by land acquisition disputes. According to the PRS Legislative Research Report (2024-25). Over 70% of delays are cause by compensation disagreements and resistance from the landowners. Due to the incorporation of public and landowners main delay is causing.
According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) report. Nearly 80% of land acquisition cases in UP require legal intervention which will prolong the timeline. Initiatives like Bhoomi Rashi Protal. Which will launch by NHAI, aim to streamline the land acquisition. But its success is still unknown in future .
We can not ignore environmental impact of large – scale road infrastructure projects . According to the Centre for Science and Environment. Highway projects will drastically contribute to deforestation and ecological disturbances.
Construction activities like this along highways will increase CO2 emissions by 20 – 25% which was highlighted in 2023 in one of the reports of Energy and Resource Institute. NHAI is concerned about this problem. Due to which they have mandated the use of green technologies. This will include solar – powered lighting systems and rainwater harvesting structures, for highway projects, Tree plantation along the highways is aimed to mitigate deforestation.
Conclusion
The 150 Billion investment by NHAI to overhaul Uttar Pradesh’s highway infrastructure is a monumental step forward, which will also promise enhanced connectivity and economic growth. Various challenges are also coming along the way like acquisition delays and environmental concerns but through addressing these issues proactively we can move ahead.
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Source – PRS India Report