Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said before the end of 2024, Uttar Pradesh would have road infrastructure like in the United States and the picture of the state would change with development of roads.

Gadkari inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of seven National Highway projects worth Rs 6,500 crore at Chitbadgaon in Ballia.

The most important of these projects is laying the foundation stone of the Greenfield Expressway. The Greenfield Expressway will be built at a cost of Rs 5,320 crore.

The Greenfield Expressway is a 117-km link from Jangipur in Ghazipur to Rivilganj in Chhapra and 17 km from Bharauli to Unchadih. With the construction of Greenfield Highway, eastern Uttar Pradesh would get better connectivity with Chhapra, Patna, Buxar in Bihar, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Gadkari said the condition of roads in UP was not good before 2014. “After the Narendra Modi government came to power, National Highway has increased from 7,643 km to 13,000 km in the state,” he said.

“Before the end of 2024, UP will have road infrastructure like in America. The state is growing very fast and its picture will change with the development of roads. The villages and the poor will be happy and prosperous in the state. The youth will also get employment and UP will become the leading state in the country,” he said.

Gadkari said with the construction of Ballia Link Expressway it would be possible to reach Patna from Lucknow through Purvanchal Expressway in just four and a half hours. He said Ballia to Buxar could be reached in half an hour, Ballia to Chhapra in one hour and Ballia to Patna in one hour and a half. He said because of road networking, traveling from small towns to metropolitan cities will be easy.

The greenfield road from Chandauli to Mohania being constructed at a cost of Rs 130 crore would provide connectivity to Chandauli in UP and Kaimur district of Bihar through the Delhi-Kolkata GT Road.

He said with the construction of Saidpur to Mardah road there would be direct connectivity of Mau to Varanasi via Saidpur. “Due to better connectivity with other cities of the state, the economic and social condition of the state will improve as well as backward areas of Azamgarh district will get new connectivity,” he said.

He called upon farmers to become a provider of food as well as energy. “Farmers should become food as well as energy providers and should play a major role in the export of energy,” he said.

He said vegetable producing farmers would get direct benefit of three multimodal terminals Varanasi, Ghazipur and Haldia through the expressway.