Lucknow, Jul 13 (PTI) Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said road projects worth Rs 5 lakh crore will be completed in Uttar Pradesh over the next two years, and announced new such projects worth Rs 50,000-60,000 crore for the state.
The minister was addressing a function after the inauguration and foundation-laying of three National Highway projects worth over Rs 4,850 crore.
“I assure Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that all the new works worth Rs 50,000-60,000 crore discussed in the meeting with officials earlier today have been approved. Besides these, we will complete road projects worth Rs 5 lakh crore in Uttar Pradesh over the next two years,” he said.
The event was attended by, besides Adityanath, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Gadkari said infrastructure was the foundation of economic development, and power, transport and communication were the key pillars for attracting investment, promoting trade and industry.
“Where good infrastructure exists, trade, business and industries flourish. Capital investment follows, employment is created, and poverty, hunger and unemployment decline,” he said.
The minister said Uttar Pradesh’s pace of development was not as fast as it should have been before the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014, but has sped up since.
He also recited a quote by former US president John F Kennedy that he had on display in his office while serving as a minister in Maharashtra: “American roads are not good because America is rich; America is rich because American roads are good.” “I have never made false promises in my 45 years of public life. If a project cannot be executed, I say so publicly,” he said.
Describing Uttar Pradesh as the “heart of India”, Gadkari said the country’s development was closely linked to the state’s progress.
“If Uttar Pradesh becomes prosperous, per capita income rises, exports increase, and road infrastructure improves, India’s growth will also accelerate,” he said.
Gadkari said that while the ministry could not build a Metro system as it did not fall within its mandate, it was exploring electric mass rapid transit solutions, including ropeway-based systems and elevated electric buses.
The minister also announced that the Centre would take up widening of the Lucknow-Sitapur highway to six lanes at an estimated cost of Rs 1,200 crore, reducing travel time between the two destinations from two hours to 50 minutes.
Gadkari said he travelled on the corridor from Kanpur to Lucknow in just 22 minutes.
Rajanath Singh, the Lucknow MP, said he could secure the road projects for the district because he sought them first.
“I stood up first because otherwise I might not have got the opportunity to seek these projects for Lucknow. That is why I insisted on speaking before anyone else,” Singh said.
“The demand for the Kanpur-Lucknow expressway has existed for a long time. The moment I informed Nitin Gadkari ji about it, he did not waste even a moment and granted approval,” he said.
Singh said he had also urged the Centre to sanction a 23-km elevated corridor from the city’s airport to the Outer Ring Road over Shaheed Path, and it was immediately approved by Gadkari.
“Shaheed Path was initiated when Atal ji was the prime minister, and I was the road transport minister. I was present at its foundation ceremony. Today, it has become the lifeline of Lucknow. Had it not existed, one can imagine how severe the city’s traffic congestion would have been,” he said.
Singh said a metro project above the elevated road in the district has also been approved.
The minister said Adityanath never wavered in approving projects and credited him with the operation of the Brahmos missile factory in the state.
“The BrahMos missile unit has already been established here. The day is not far away when several more major industries will come up around Lucknow,” he said. PTI KIS ABN VN VN
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