19.4.12

Lucknow - Agra Expressway

The Uttar Pradesh government gave its approval to an Information Technology city in Lucknow. The proposed city will be built on about 100 acres of government land at Gajaria farms on Sultanpur Road in Lucknow. A nod has also been given to a proposal for an eight-lane Lucknow-Agra highway. The access-controlled greenfield Expressway from Agra to Lucknow will be developed on a public-private-partnership model and reduce travel time between Greater Noida and Lucknow via Agra . At present, it takes around 9-10 hours to reach Greater Noida from Lucknow. The travelling between Agra and Lucknow will also get faster. The 365 km distance between the two cities would be reduced to under four hours. The government has appointed UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) as the nodal agency for the proposed project. “Both the projects have received an in-principal approval of the government,” said Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner, Anil Kumar Gupta. “For the IT city project, a concept note with inputs from the departments of tourism, IT and Electronics and animal husbandry, which owns the land, will be prepared. We expect to receive the final cabinet sanction for the IT city in six weeks. Cabinet approval for the Lucknow-Agra Expressway is expected by year-end.’’ The IT city will come up on 100 acre land near Gajaria farm on the city’s outskirts It will have offices, residences, hotels and also recreation areas .The govt has hired the services of a consultancy firm to revamp the existing IT policy .The proposed eight-lane highway to reduce travel time between Lucknow and Greater Noida to just five hours . The proposal for the greenfield expressway will see a heavy plantation drive, water bodies connecting the nearest canal for facilitating ground water recharge and eco-friendly parks to neutralise air and noise pollution. On Thursday, the IIDC will decide the terms of reference for the preparation of the project’s concept note. “The concept note will be prepared in three months. Then, a consultant will undertake a feasibility report. After conducting the physical survey of the 300 km stretch and obtaining environmental clearances, the proposal will go for cabinet approval. Then construction work can start,’’ Gupta said. The work on the project start rolling before the year-end, reveal sources.The IT city, apart from being directly connected with the Shaheed Path and the airport, the project will also have dedicated power supply to boost. The government also ordered a revamp of UP’s existing IT policy and has hired the services of management consultancy firm KPMG for drafting the state’s new IT Policy. The first draft is expected by April end. Before giving the policy a final shape, the government will also meet all stakeholders. The government expecting no hiccups on the land acquisition because the Gajariya farm lands – nearly 400 acres – belong to the department of animal husbandry.

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