The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday said the construction of the over 290-km-long Bundelkhand Expressway, a four-lane controlled access highway linking the backward region in the state to the national capital, will start in October.
The expressway will have connectivity to the Agra-Lucknow Expressway and the Agra-Noida Expressway.
Briefing reporters after a meeting of the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Additional Chief Secretary (Information) and UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority CEO Awanish Awasthi said the project will be completed in 30 months.
He said 90 per cent of the land needed for the project has been acquired and acquisition of the remaining 10 per cent would be completed in two months.
"The land of farmers have been acquired (for the project) at four times the existing rate," he added.
The expressway will start from Jhansi and will pass through the state's most backward districts like Chitrakoot, also a religious and tourist spot, Banda, Hamirpur, Auraiya and Jalaun. From Jalaun, it will go to Etawah and reach Naseempur via Bateshwar in Agra before joining the Agra-Lucknow Expressway.
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"It will help 50,000 people to get direct and indirect jobs. The expressway will boost tourism and usher in holistic development," UP government spokesman Shrikant Sharma said.
On Sunday, Awasthi visited Banda district and reviewed the progress of the project.