Ganga Expressway | A new road to riches

On April 29, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated what promises to be a new economic spine for Uttar Pradesh: the 594-kilometre-long Ganga Expressway. Stretching from Bijauli village in Meerut to Judapur Dandu in Prayagraj, the high-speed corridor cuts across 12 districts—Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Sambhal, Budaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Raebareli, Pratapgarh and Prayagraj—bringing more than 500 villages onto the network and linking western UP with its central and eastern regions.

The six-lane expressway, expandable to eight lanes, has a 120-metre-wide right-of-way and is designed for speeds of up to 120 kmph. It will bring down the travel time between Meerut and Prayagraj from the earlier 10-12 hours to 6-7 hours. This cut in travel time, officials say, will directly improve logistics by lowering transport costs, reducing delays and making supply chains more efficient. More importantly, it will bridge the gap between the more urban, industrialised western part of UP with the poorer cousin that is eastern UP, helping a more even spread of growth across the state. This fits in perfectly with the Yogi Adityanath government’s development pitch ahead of the 2027 assembly election. Before the Ganga Expressway, the state accounted for about 55 per cent of India’s expressway network; that figure is now close to 60 per cent.

According to Deepak Kumar, CEO, Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), which developed the over-Rs 36,000 crore corridor, the current stretch is only part of a larger long-term plan. “In later phases, the expressway will be connected to Haridwar on the one side and to the proposed Vindhya Expressway through Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh on the other,” he says.

HUBS OF ACTIVITY

The Ganga Expressway follows the “expressway-cum-industrial corridor” model, where infrastructure is meant to trigger parallel economic activity. At the centre of this is a proposed Integrated Manufacturing and Logistics Corridor (IMLC). Under this, the UPEIDA has identified 12 industrial nodes, earmarking about 6,507 acres of land (see Corridor of Opportunity). These nodes are designed around the specific economic profile of each district, with a focus on manufacturing, warehousing, e-commerce supply chains, agri-processing and logistics. So far, officials say, 987 investment proposals with projected investments of around Rs 47,000 crore have been received. The proposals came after the UPEIDA invited Expressions of Interest from investors and developers for industrial and logistics clusters along the corridor in June 2025.

In Meerut, about 529 acres have been identified along a 10-km stretch, while Hapur has around 304 acres planned across 54 km. Bulandshahr, with roughly 2,798 acres, is the largest cluster on the route, followed by nodes in Amroha (348 acres), Sambhal (591 acres), Budaun (269 acres), Shahjahanpur (252 acres), Hardoi (335 acres), Unnao (333 acres), Raebareli (232 acres), Pratapgarh (263 acres) and Prayagraj (251 acres). Together, these form a chain of proposed industrial zones that run almost the entire length of the expressway. According to Kumar, the corridor is expected to gradually shift investment beyond the National Capital Region (NCR). “At present, most industries are concentrated around NCR,” he says. “But with the industrial corridor, industries will increasingly come up in districts along the expressway because they can access cheaper land and labour while still being connected to the NCR and other markets within a few hours.”

Agriculture is another key part of the plan. Better roads will allow perishable produce to reach markets faster, reducing spoilage and potentially improving prices. Stronger mandi linkages and smoother transport are also expected to benefit farmers. The expressway is expected to boost religious and cultural tourism as well, with easier access to sites such as Prayagraj likely to increase tourist traffic and support local economies. “Goods will move faster, logistics costs will come down, and tourism will also benefit significantly,” Kumar says.

THE PATH AHEAD

For all its scale and ambition, the Ganga Expressway also raises a set of immediate, practical questions. Cost is one of them. A two-wheeler travelling the full stretch from Meerut to Prayagraj will pay around Rs 905 in toll. For a car, the cost rises to roughly Rs 1,800, while buses and trucks could pay as much as Rs 5,720. For frequent users, especially transport operators, it feeds directly into logistics costs, which the expressway is otherwise meant to reduce.

Kumar says the pricing follows a fixed mathematical formula linked to project economics and projected traffic flow. “These costs are determined through studies conducted before the project begins. Construction costs, traffic projections and operational calculations are all taken into account.” Though the state government kept the road toll-free for an initial 15-day period to encourage usage, a fully automated, sensor-based tolling system is in place across the corridor to ensure smoother movement without long queues at toll plazas.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Samajwadi Party is taking the government to task over the quality of facilities along the corridor, particularly public amenities. “It has hardly been a few days since the inauguration, and many of the toilets and facilities are already damaged,” says party spokesperson Manoj Singh Kaka. He also alleges that certain companies received an undue advantage in the awarding of contracts. “When the selection process itself is not fair and transparent, questions about quality will naturally arise,” he claims.

Kumar rejects these allegations, saying the tendering system was fully transparent and conducted online. Developed under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, the expressway project was divided into four large packages awarded to companies such as IRB Infrastructure and the Adani Group, instead of being assigned to a single contractor. Officials say this multi-package approach allowed construction to begin simultaneously across different stretches. “There is no favouritism in Uttar Pradesh. The process involves open bidding, and everything is done transparently,” Kumar says. “You can see this in other projects as well. Take Jewar airport, for example, where Zurich Airport International AG, a foreign company, won the bid.”

The idea for the Ganga Expressway emerged as part of the Yogi government’s broader push to connect different regions of the state through high-speed corridors.

Over the past few years, UP has invested heavily in expressways—from Purvanchal and Bundelkhand to the Ganga corridor now—betting that improved connectivity will drive economic activity across the state. “After the Purvanchal and Bundelkhand Expressways were started, the chief minister [after taking office in 2017] felt there should be an expressway linking Haridwar and Prayagraj,” says Awanish Awasthi, currently the CM’s chief adviser and formerly the CEO of UPEIDA during the project’s execution phase. “More than Rs 7,000 crore was arranged through the budget for acquiring land. Eventually, this became the largest PPP model project in the roads sector in the country.” The foundation stone for the Ganga Expressway project was laid by PM Modi in Shahjahanpur on December 18, 2021.

Now, as the Ganga Expressway enters everyday use, its success is likely to be judged not just by the speed and scale of its construction, but by whether it delivers jobs, investment and broader economic activity along its stretch.