Ganga Expressway: UP govt gets approval letter for ₹ 5100 crore loan from PNB
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman hails Yogi for creating investment-friendly atmosphere in UP, chief minister says Ganga Expressway will be backbone of state economy
The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday received the sanction letter of ₹ 5100 crore loan for the 594-kilometre-long Ganga Expressway project from the Punjab National Bank (PNB) in the presence of Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and chief minister Yogi Adityanath at an event in Lucknow.
Sitharaman hailed Adityanath for creating an investment-friendly atmosphere in Uttar Pradesh.
This expressway will be the longest in north India and the second longest in the country. The project’s estimated cost is ₹36,230 crore.
SS Mallikarjuna Rao, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of PNB, handed over the approval letter to the state government at a ceremony at the Indira Gandhi Prathisthan in the state capital.
Speaking at the event, Sitharaman said, “I am very proud of chief minister Yogi Adityanath who understands the larger national interest, translates that into the state’s policies and takes it at the execution level to the last mile.”
Referring to the infrastructure work going on in the state, she said, “That which had to be done in six decades is being attempted to be completed within four-five years. It requires extraordinary commitment and efforts, and that is what the CM is doing. Pleasantly happy that a public sector bank has gone thinking forward.”
Adityanath said the Ganga Expressway would become the backbone of the state’s economy. He also lauded Sitharaman for allocating a budget for infrastructure development.
“We are connecting Meerut in west Uttar Pradesh with Prayagraj in the east. The Ganga Expressway will become the backbone of the state’s economy. Travelling time from Lucknow to Meerut will decrease to five hours and 6.5 hours from Prayagraj to Meerut through the Ganga Expressway,” the chief minister said.
“The state government had decided to create a 594 km-long expressway between Prayagraj and Meerut…I am grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for allocation of funds in the Union Budget for big infrastructure development,” he added.
With the approval letter, the state government has finalised the process of securitisation-based loans from banks as part of mobilisation of financial resources for the Ganga Expressway.
The state government will use this amount for the project. During the currency of this loan (loan period), the expressway will be owned and operated by Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority.
This is the first innovative attempt to monetize public infrastructure assets not only in the state, but in the whole of northern India, the state government claimed.
UPEIDA, a state government body, is the nodal agency for executing all expressway projects in the state.
According to UPEIDA CEO Awanish Kumar Awasthi, around 92% land required for the Ganga Expressway project has been acquired.
The Ganga Expressway will start from National Highway-334 (NH-334 in Meerut and end at Prayagraj bypass at the National Highway-2 (NH-2). The six-lane expressway will be expandable up to eight lanes.
It will pass through Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Sambhal, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh and Prayagraj districts of Uttar Pradesh.
The Purvanchal Expressway is in the final stages of completion and the Bundelkhand Expressway would also be completed soon, said UPEIDA chief executive officer (CEO) Awanish Kumar Awasthi.
(WITH AGENCY INPUTS)