UPEIDA Floats Tender For Appointing Consultant For Development Of Chitrakoot Link Expressway

After successful construction and commissioning of three expressways in the state, the Uttar Pradesh government has set the ball rolling for the development of Chitrakoot Link Expressway Project.

The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), last week floated tenders for selection of Consultant for development of the Link Expressway Project.

The Consultant shall be required to analyze the feasibility of implementation of the Project and to assess various financing options on which the Project can be implemented, for finalization by the Authority.

Earlier, the State budget for 2023-24 had allocated Rs 235 crores for the two e-ways — Jhansi Link Expressway and Chitrakoot Link Expressway.

The 14-km proposed Chitrakoot Link expressway will be an access controlled greenfield project. The four-lane expressway is proposed to start from Bundelkhand Expressway and will terminate at junction of of NH-135 BG (Chitrakoot-Maihar National Highway).

Why A Link Expressway

The region is a place of great mythological relevance and religious importance. It is associated with historic Ramayana epic as this was the place where Lord Rama, Sita, and Lakshman spent their 11 years of exile and has gained utmost importance as a tourist attraction.

Since 2006, Chitrakoot district has been included in the list of the most backward districts of India and is also one of the eight aspirational districts of the State as identified by NITI Aayog.

In an effort to boost socio-economic development and stimulate tourism in the region, the State government has planned to link Chitrakoot with the existing Bundelkhand Expressway.

The 296-km-long Bundelkhand Expressway links the less developed Bundelkhand region in the state with National Capital 'Delhi' through Agra-Lucknow Expressway and Yamuna Expressway as well as to the State Capital, Lucknow.

As such, the proposed link expressway will provide direct high speed connectivity to Chitrakoot from the National Capital region as well as from Eastern part of the state.