Uttar Pradesh cabinet decision: Farrukhabad Link Expressway to connect Agra-Lucknow, Ganga Expressways

The access controlled six-lane (expandable to eight lanes) greenfield Farrukhabad Link Expressway will come up at an estimated cost of ₹7488.74 crore.

The Uttar Pradesh cabinet on Friday approved a proposal to connect the Agra-Lucknow expressway with the Ganga Expressway via the access controlled six-lane (expandable to eight lanes) greenfield Farrukhabad Link Expressway at an estimated cost of ₹7488.74 crore.

The new expressway will connect the Agra-Lucknow Expressway at Kudrail, Etawah and the Ganga Expressway at Sawaijpur, Hardoi. (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

The 90.83-km Farrukhabad Link Expressway will be constructed on the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) model, the cabinet decided at its meeting chaired by chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

The new expressway will connect the Agra-Lucknow Expressway at Kudrail, Etawah and the Ganga Expressway at Sawaijpur, Hardoi, minister for finance Suresh Khanna said, briefing media persons.

Khanna said the developer for the project would be selected through bidding and the work on the expressway would be completed within 548 working days.

The developer would have to complete the construction within the specified time period and also maintain the expressway for the next five years.

Farrukhabad, which has the Sankisa Buddhist heritage site and attracts pilgrims from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Indonesia, Japan, China, Singapore and Thailand, is also an important trade centre.

Free Ujjwala LPG cylinders on Diwali, Holi

The state cabinet approved a proposal to distribute two free LPG cylinders to the beneficiaries covered under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana in 2025-2026. Out of the two, one free cylinder would be given for Diwali and the other one will be distributed on Holi, said minister for finance Suresh Khanna.

Appointment of dependents

The state cabinet approved an amendment to the rules for appointments of dependents of government servants who die while in service. Minister for finance Suresh Khanna said the amended rule provides for not making an appointment of the dependent in a category higher than that of the government servant who died while in service. The appointments would be made only in the C and D categories and would not be applicable to posts filled by the UPPSC.

Integrated development

The state cabinet approved a proposal to provide ₹3000 crore for integrated development of the development authorities of Lucknow, Ayodhya, Rampur and Baghpat-Badot-Khekra under the Mukhyamantri Shahari Vistarikaran/Naye Shahar Protsahan Yojana in 2025-2026. Under this scheme, the state government provides 50% of the cost of land acquisition as seed capital to development authorities for 20 years. Khanna said against the provision of ₹3000 crore, the state cabinet has approved ₹1832.51 crore. Out of this, the first instalment of ₹970 crore would be released.

Textiles and apparel parks

The state cabinet on Friday approved Sant Kabir Textiles and Apparel Park scheme to set up textiles and apparel parks in Uttar Pradesh. Textile parks with modern plug-and-play (ready to use) infrastructure would be set up on government owned land under the policy. Every park would create nearly 1500 jobs.

An official press release said the state government brought policies to boost the textiles industry in 2014, 2017 and 2022. A subsidy of ₹210 crore was given to 80 investors under the provisions of textiles policy-2017. The state government received 225 proposals involving investment of ₹5000 crore under the provisions of textiles policy-2022.

Portal for scholarships

The state cabinet approved a proposal to create a web portal to pay scholarships for 2024-2025 to the students of scheduled caste, scheduled tribe, general, OBC and minority categories who could not get the scholarships in 2024-2025. Though minister for finance Suresh Khanna did not provide the number of students, he said ₹647.38 crore has been arranged for the purpose.