Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav laid the foundation stone of the Samajwadi Purvanchal Expressway connecting lucknow with Ballia saying this highway will speed up development and change the face of Uttar Pradesh.

“As the SP government is committed to development of state, it is focussing on development of its infrastructure. We have constructed Agra-lucknow Expressway in record time and the Samajwadi Purvanchal Expressway is extension of that project which also will be completed before stipulated time as over 40 per cent of the land has been acquired so far,” Yadav said at the function in lucknow on Thursday.

Yadav said that the Expressway will figure in the party’s manifesto to be announced soon. “We have taken up many projects which were not in the manifesto like Metro Rail in lucknow and other cities and the construction of Agra-lucknow Expressway,” Yadav said.

The CM said hat the Samajwadi Purvanchal Expressway will connect western and eastern ends of the state. “Once complete, the travel time between New Delhi and Ballia will be reduced to just 10 hours,” he said.

Starting from lucknow the proposed 353 km Expressway will pass through Barabanki, Amethi, Sultanpur, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh and Mau and will have a 12.54 Varanasi link Road. This Expressway, like the Agra-lucknow Expressway, will have airstrip at Azamgarh from where fighter jets of Indian Air Force can operate in emergency.

This will be a six-lane highway, expandable up to eight lanes and will have 23 flyovers and underpasses. The total construction will be carried out under eight packages. For the benefit of commuters, there would be amenity points at eight places.

“If our government is building Expressways, it is also constructing four-land all weather roads connecting district headquarters with other areas. Has any government ever thought of taking up such a project,” the CM asked and said: “Our government distributed laptops and will distribute smart phones to the youth from the next fiscal.”

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his decision to cull high value notes, Yadav said that the decision has hit the poor the most.

“People are losing job and our PM is advising people to go cashless and digital. These people will teach BJP a lesson in the coming elections,” the CM said.