 "Highway development tops UP govt's agenda")
The state Public Works Department (PWD) would identify such roads and later transfer them to the UP State Highways Authority (UPSHA) for up-gradation.
State chief secretary Jawed Usmani has asked officials to draft a comprehensive action plan within a month. Bad infrastructure is a major hurdle in the industrial development of UP.
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UP has one of the largest road networks in India measuring about 1,35,000 km, including national/state highways, district and rural roads. Of this, about 5,600 km and 8,600 km pertain to national and state highways (SH) respectively. The state also has the largest railway network spanning almost 8,800 km.
Earlier, UP had selected 19 SHs for upgrading under public private partnership (PPP) spanning 2,100 km. The total project was estimated to cost over Rs 12,000 crore.
Four SHs had already been handed over to private developers after bidding viz. Delhi-Saharanpur-Yamunori Road (Rs 1,718 crore), Bareilly-Almora Road (Rs 354 crore), Varanasi-Shaktinagar Road (Rs 1,212 crore) and Meerut-Karnal Road (Rs 583 crore).
While, these four highway up-gradation projects totalling 462 km and worth Rs 3,868 crore are underway, 15 road projects spanning 1,640 km and Rs 8,132 crore proposed by UPSHA are in different stages, including bidding or feasibility.
Besides, an engineering procurement contract (EPC) project of 640 km on Indo-Nepal Border spanning several border districts has also been proposed and bidding started.
Meanwhile, Usmani directed officials to expedite work on the proposed 270 km Agra-Lucknow expressway to meet the December 2016 deadline.
The project, estimated at Rs 9,500 crore, would provide seamless connectivity from Lucknow to the National Capital Region via the operational Agra-Greater Noida Yamuna Expressway. A 10.25 metre greenbelt would flank the proposed expressway on either sides and connect Firozabad, Etawah, Mainpuri, Kannauj and Hardoi districts.