At present, the development work on Purvanchal Expressway is under progress. According to the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), the construction work on the ambitious expressway project is going on at full speed. So far, 51.23% of physical progress has been completed overall. The UPEIDA is executing the expressway project, for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, in July 2018. The Purvanchal Expressway project is being developed at a cost of Rs 22,500 crore.
According to details shared by UPEIDA, as on 8 August 2020, the overall progress of package one is 44.57 per cent, package two is 49.56 per cent, package three is 67.38 per cent, package four is 50.4 per cent, package five is around 50.4 per cent, package six is around 49 per cent, package seven is around 48.7 per cent, package eight is around 49.8 per cent. Earlier it was reported that the work on the 340.824 km long Purvanchal Expressway got delayed for almost two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, efforts are being made to complete the project by this year-end, months prior to the official target of April 2021.
Originating from Lucknow’s Chand Sarai, the six-lane (expandable to eight lanes) access-controlled expressway will end at Haidaria in Ghazipur district. The project is being developed on the basis of EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction).
Once the expressway is thrown open to the public, seamless connectivity will be provided between nine predominantly agricultural districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Lucknow including, Barabanki, Sultanpur, Azamgarh, Ghazipur, Amethi, Ayodhya, Ambedkarnagar, and Mau. Apart from this, the expressway will also link them to the national capital via the 302 km long Agra-Lucknow Expressway and Agra-Greater Noida Yamuna Expressway, which is 165 km long.