The chief minister of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, today opened the 91km Gorakhpur Expressway, an $841m project he kicked off in 2018.
The four-lane toll road, designed for a future upgrade to six lanes, runs from the city of Gorakhpur – population 2.5 million – south to Azamgarh, cutting journey times through four districts along its route. Toll charges have yet to be set.
It’s the state’s seventh expressway, of which five were built in the last eight years, reports The Times of India.
Land acquisition took until 2020. The state bought around 1,148 hectares in 172 villages, paying out some $234m in total to just over 22,000 farmers.
Two Indian contractors, APCO Infratech and Dilip Buildcon, started building roughly half of the expressway each in 2020.
At the inauguration today the chief minister praised other road projects underway in Uttar Pradesh.
He said the new Agra Lucknow Expressway was half done, while work continues extending the new, 340km Purvanchal Expressway, begun in 2021, to Patna.
Work is also ongoing on the 300km Bundelkhand Expressway, begun in 2022, reports The Economic Times.
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