Noida to Ballia in eight hours: Mayawati

Shortly after the rollback of the agriculture policy and ordering the closure of retail stores of Reliance Fresh, UP Chief Minister Mayawati today announced a 1,000-km modern eight-lane access-controlled Ganga Expressway from Noida to Ballia, on the left bank of the Ganga, which will cost about Rs 40,000 crore.

Mayawati said while normally such projects took five to seven years to be completed, the UP government intended to finish it in three years. The project will be executed through public-private partnership and the state government would be a facilitator.

Mayawati said this project would be the first in the country since Sher Shah constructed Grand Trunk Road, from Peshawar to East Bengal. No special purpose vehicle will be floated for the project and the PWD and irrigation department are likely to act as nodal agencies.

The chief minister said after the project was completed, the time to travel from Delhi to Varanasi would be 8-10 hours, from the present 24 hours plus. The foundation stone will be laid sometime in January next year.

The state cabinet today approved the project while the Centre had given its environment clearance. This will be the second expressway in the state after the Taj Expressway of 145 km between Noida and Agra, which has been delayed for the last five years due to legal problems.

The process of selecting the consultant has almost been completed and is likely to be announced by next week. Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh, briefing mediapersons on the project, said the techno-economic feasibility report on this would be available in three months while the bidding would be done two months after the report was in.

"We have completed the satellite mapping and preliminary survey on the project," he said. State government officials say the project would help in re-energising traditional industries in areas like Bhadohi, Kannauj and Khurja, and will also help weavers and craftsmen. Besides, it is expected to revive historical cities like Mirzapur and Bithoor.

Though the project is to be awarded through the process of competitive bidding, the JP group is said to be a frontrunner. During the previous stint of Mayawati as chief minister, the JP group was awarded the Rs 2,500 crore Taj expressway.

Mayawati said the project would stop floods and pollution in the region of the expressway. "The cost of the project will be borne by private entrepreneurs selected through transparent global bidding," she said.

''The expressway will fulfil the promise made by our government to lift Poorvanchal and Bundelkhand out of backwardness," Mayawati said.

Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh said industrial, commercial and residential hubs would be allotted to investors to make the project viable for them even though they would receive revenue through toll tax.

"There will be minimal displacement and land acquisition because the expressway will be constructed on the left bank of the Ganga while all the major cities like Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi and others are on the right bank," he added.