A bevy of mega infra projects are lined up for either commencement of work or inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

By VIRENDRA SINGH RAWAT

LUCKNOW, Nov 10 (The CONNECT) - With crucial 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections barely three months away, November 2021 is ominously placed to become a blockbuster month of sorts for the Yogi Adityanath government in the country’s most populous State.

A bevy of mega infra projects are lined up for either commencement of work or inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is the biggest poll mascot of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ahead of the battle of the ballots.

These projects were conceptualised soon after Adityanath took over the reins of UP in March 2017. Two of the flagship projects viz. 340 km Purvanchal Expressway costing Rs 23,000 crore and Kashi Vishwanath temple corridor have been completed, and now await formal inauguration Modi.

The PM in separate programmes will also do ground-breaking of three mega state projects namely Jewar international airport in Greater Noida, UP Film city and Ganga Expressway. Moreover, the defunct fertiliser plant and the new AIIMS facility in Gorakhpur, the pocket borough of CM Adityanath, are expected to start in the coming weeks.

While Ganga Expressway is expected to cost Rs 36,000 crore, the entire Jewar project will see investment of almost Rs 30,000 crore in different phases. The Film City, Noida project is estimated to cost Rs 10,000 crore. Together, these projects have a total investment profile of more than Rs 75,000 crore.

According to a government official, this would perhaps be the first instance in the history of UP, when an eclectic basket of infra projects would see the light of the day within a span of a few weeks.

In July 2018, Modi had done the foundation stone ceremony of the  Purvanchal Expressway, which will link the comparatively laggard Eastern UP districts with the National Capital Region (NCR) via Agra-Lucknow Expressway and Yamuna Expressway, thus fostering speedier transport across the length and breadth of the state.

At the same time, the work on another mega project costing Rs 15,000 crore, the 296 km Bundelkhand Expressway, is underway to link the arid zone with the mainland of UP to spur socioeconomic development and arrest the outward migration of local youth in search of jobs.

Besides, Modi is expected to arrive in Jhansi district to partake in the 193rd anniversary celebrations of Rani Lakshmi Bai and launch various projects including potable water. He will also lay the foundation of the proposed unit of Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) in the Jhansi node of the UP Defence Corridor.

The proposed plant of BDL will manufacture components for the indigenously developed Akash Missile system. The UP government has allocated 183 hectares of land for the Rs 400 crore prestigious defence project.

In March 2019, Modi had launched the Kashi Vishwanath project, which entailed an investment of Rs 400 crore towards redevelopment and beautification of ‘ghats’ to augment the tourism potential of the temple town.

Meanwhile, union home minister Amit Shah is scheduled to lay the foundation of Azamgarh state university on November 13.