PM Narendra Modi to lay foundation stone for India's longest Purvanchal Expressway in UP's Azamgarh

After inaugurating world's largest mobile manufacturing unit of Samsung in Noida, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay foundation for the country's longest Purvanchal Expressway in Azamgarh on Saturday.

The 340-km-long Purvanchal Expressway will link nine districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh cities, including PM's parliamentary Constituency Varanasi, directly with Lucknow and Delhi. It will also be linked with the 302-km-long Lucknow-Agra Expressway and 165-km-long Yamuna Expressway from Agra to Delhi.

Interestingly, the foundation stone for the Purvanchal Expressway was laid by then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on December 22, 2016. It was, however, another matter that not even 30 per cent land was acquired when Akhilesh hurriedly laid the foundation stone to take credit in Assembly 2017 polls.

After coming to the power, the Adityanath government took up India's longest Purvanchal Expressway project afresh after cancelling all tenders. It has so far acquired 94 per cent of the land required for the project and completed the tender process.

The cost of the proposed 8-lane expressway has also been brought down from Rs 34,500 crore to Rs 23,349.97 crore. The project will be completed in record 36 months. A cartel of five companies has been given the job of executing the project, divided into eight phases. The UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) is the nodal agency to monitor the work.

The Adityanth government has already got a loan or Rs 12,000 crore sanctioned from the Punjab National Bank to execute the project. A compensation of Rs 6,500 crore have so far been disbursed to farmers whose lands were acquired for the project.

During his maiden visit to Azamgarh, the parliamentary constituency of Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Prime Minister is also likely to unveil the plan for the Bundekhand. He may also announce to link Azamagrh with air connectivity during his public rally in which about 1 lakh people are likely to participate.

The PM is on an inauguration spree in Uttar Pradesh in July. After Noida and Azamgarh, he will make four more visits to Uttar Pradesh in July inaugurating completed project, laying foundations for new ones and addressing public rallies. From Azamgarh, he will go to Varanasi on Saturday and spent night in his Lok Sabha constituency.

He will lay foundation stones for a few new projects in Varanasi on Sunday and will visit Shahjahanpur on July 21 to address a farmers' rally. On July 21, Modi will visit Lucknow to participate in a MoU signing ceremony of projects which came to the state during the Investors' Summit which was opened by him only.