With the next Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj scheduled in January 2025, the Uttar Pradesh government is trying to complete the 594-km Ganga Expressway, one of the largest expressway projects in the country, a year before its deadline so that the road could be thrown open to the public before the mega fair kicks off. The state government is making grand preparations to showcase the 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela as a grand event. The expressway straddling 12 districts of the state from Meerut to Prayagraj is being developed on public private partnership (PPP) model at an estimated cost of Rs 36,000 crore. The original completion deadline of the project is December 2025. The project developers — Adani Enterprises and IRB infrastructure Developers — have been asked to complete the project by 2024-end with financial incentives. Narendra Bhooshan, chief executive officer (CEO) of Uttar Pradesh Expressway Industrial Development Authority, said, “While the project is scheduled to take three years, we have requested the builders to complete it ahead of time keeping the Kumbh Mela in mind.” On the directions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to complete the project work by December 2024, the developers have already completed 25% of the “earthwork” (scraping and grading of the patch) in just 5 months of starting of the work. The construction work started in October last year. The project, the foundation stone for which was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2021 before the Assembly elections in the state, has been divided into four sections. The tender for three of the four sections was bagged by Adani Enterprises while IRB Infrastructure Developers won one. The work on the section-1 spanning 130km, bagged by IRB Infrastructure Developers, starting from Meerut will conclude in Amroha. The section-2 spanning 152km is being developed by Adani Enterprises from Badaun to Hardoi district. The section-3 spanning 155 km is from Hardoi to Unnao, while 157-km-long section-4 (both with Adani Enterprises) is being built from Unnao to Prayagraj Some of the recent expressway projects in the state like the Purvanchal Expressway were built on the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) model wherein the contract is given to a company to complete the project the cost of which is borne by the government. However, the Ganga Expressway, like the Yamuna Expressway, is being built on the PPP model wherein the developer will design, build, finance and then operate the project on lease for 30 years, including 3 years of construction period, following which it would be transferred to the government. Sources citing the contract said that the developers will get financial incentives on weekly basis for an early completion of work. As a result, the incentives will run will run into hundreds of crores of rupees if the project is completed a year ahead of the deadline. “We are trying to push the project ahead of the deadline. The developers have assured that the work will be completed in time. Simultaneous work is going on on railway over-bridges and underpasses,” a senior official said.
