Hindu devotees gather for the Mahakumbh in Allahabad in 2013 (Photo credit: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)The union government has approved a major infrastructure push worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore for Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming Ardha Kumbh Mela in 2019. The approval for setting up newer roads, highways and waterways in the northern state was approved on Monday (12 June) after Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
The total cost of projects approved is Rs 1.5 lakh crore. We will soon start the work on detailed project reports. The projects would be taken up by the National Highways Authority of India and, wherever needed, they will be sent to the union cabinet for approval.Nitin Gadkari
On the roads front, 72 state highways would be upgraded to national highways with 15 greenfield road projects. An expressway connecting Lucknow to Bundelkhand would also be built by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), reports the Economic Times. All major cities in the state, such as Kanpur, Meerut, Moradabad, Bareilly and Gorakhpur would get ring roads.
Gadkari also announced that projects in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency of Varanasi would be fast-tracked, while the entire section of the Ganga flowing through Uttar Pradesh would be made navigable.
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