A consortium of public sector banks on Monday sanctioned a fresh loan of Rs 250 crore for the Gorakhpur Link Expressway project. 

The expressway will link Gorakhpur with national capital Delhi through the Purvanchal Expressway. It is being constructed by the UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA).

The Bank of Maharashtra has also joined the consortium and Punjab National bank and UCO Bank have already provided credit of Rs 750 crore and Rs 250 crore, respectively, for the project. 

UPEIDA Chief Executive Officer Awanish Awasthi said so far three PSU banks had provided Rs 1,250 crore for the Gorakhpur Link Expressway project. 

He said for the total fund requirement of Rs 2,250 crore for the Gorakhpur Link Expressway project, a consortium of banks would soon be constituted. He said the UP cabinet had already granted approval for setting up the consortium of banks for funding the expressway project. He said the Punjab National Bank would head the consortium of banks.

The Gorakhpur Link Expressway project will commence from National Highway 27 near Jaitpur village in Gorakhpur and pass through Ambedkar Nagar, Sant Kabir Nagar and link with the Purvanchal Expressway at Azamgarh. There will be  two toll plazas, three ramp plazas, seven flyovers, 16 vehicular underpass, 35 pedestrian underpasses, seven major bridges, 27 small bridges on this expressway.

The CEO said so far 5 percent of the physical work of the expressway had been completed which included over 16 percent earthwork.

Meanwhile, a memorandum of understanding was signed between UPEIDA and M/s Navraj Metal Works on Monday for investment in the defence manufacturing corridor. 

The company will make an initial investment of Rs 6 crore in the upcoming defence manufacturing corridor. The company will manufacture tungsten alloy which is used in anti-tank ammunition (armour piercing bullets). The project is likely to create fresh employment for 400 persons.

Awasthi said that land for the project would soon be made available to the investor. He said for the six nodes of the defence manufacturing corridor, 1,456 hectares of land had been identified in Aligarh, Kanpur Nagar, Jhansi and Chitrakoot and ownership of 1,338 hectares of land had been transferred to the UPEIDA,

Awasthi said for investment in the Aligarh node, 22 companies had signed MoUs with the UPEIDA and investment of Rs 1.047 was proposed to be made. 

The UPEIDA CEO said many companies had evinced interest in investing in the defence manufacturing corridor.