Purvanchal Expressway is a 340.8 km long, 6-lane wide (expandable to 8) access-controlled expressway in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The expressway connects Chand Saray village near Gosainganj in Lucknow district with Haydaria village on NH-31 in Ghazipur district. It is developed by the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA). The Purvanchal Expressway has a 3.2 km long airstrip at Akhalkiri Karwat village near Kurebhar in Sultanpur district for emergency landing of aircraft. The construction work was started by the UPEIDA on 10 October 2018 and was inaugurated and opened to the public on 16 November 2021.
The project was announced and laid down by the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav as Lucknow-Azamgarh-Ballia Samajwadi Purvanchal Expressway in May 2015. Later, route was changed to Lucknow-Azamgarh-Ghazipur by the Yogi Adityanath government, and upon acquisition of around 95% of required land, foundation stone of Purvanchal Expressway was laid on 14 July 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With a total project value of â¹22,494 crore, including the land acquisition cost, the Expressway was India's longest expressway at the time of completion.
The expressway is to be linked with VaranasiâÂÂAzamgarh highway through a separate link road. UPEIDA is also constructing the Gorakhpur Link Expressway, which will connect Jaitpur village in Gorakhpur district with Purvanchal Expressway at Salarpur village in Azamgarh district. Upon the completion of 17 km long, 4-lane wide BuxarâÂÂGhazipur Elevated Road (Bharauli near Buxar to Haydaria in Ghazipur), Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh will be directly connected to Buxar, Arrah and Patna in Bihar by Purvanchal Expressway and NH-922.
5 industrial corridors will be set up alongside Purvanchal Expressway. As on Nov., 2023, the land has been identified and process for bainama is underway. In Ghazipur district, 25% bainama of land has been done till May, 2024.
In Ghazipur IMLC, 83.89% of Proposed Land has been acquired as on 24.02.2026.https://upeida.up.gov.in/downloadmedia/siteContent/20260224134408084793rd%20Board%20Meeting.pdf
The Purvanchal Expressway connects Chand Saray village near Gosainganj in Lucknow district with Haydaria village on MohammadabadâÂÂBuxar highway (NH-31) in Ghazipur district. It passes through 9 districts of Uttar Pradesh i.e. (from west to east) Lucknow, Barabanki, Amethi, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur.
The following entry/exit points are present in the expressway:
The UPEIDA divided the construction work of 340.8 km long Purvanchal Expressway into 8 packages, which were awarded to 5 different contractors. The design work was done by Egis India Consulting Engineers (Package 1 to 4) and Ayesa India (Package 5 to 8).
22 Flyovers, 7 Railway-over-bridges (ROB), 7 major bridges, 114 minor bridges, 6 Toll Plazas, 45 vehicular-underpasses (VUP), 139 Light VUP, 87 pedestrian underpass and 525 Box culverts has been constructed. Total construction cost (excluding the cost of Land) is around â¹11,216 crores.
Following is the list of contractors:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the inauguration site in the C-130 Hercules and later touch and go exercise was also performed on the expressway by the Indian Air Force (IAF). Indian Air Force fighter jets performed the 'touch and go' operation, under which 30 fighter planes touched the Purvanchal expressway airstrip and then took off. Fighter jets including Mirage 2000, AN-32, Jaguar, and Sukhoi performed touch and go operations and showcased a landing on the expressway. The Indian aircraft showcased tricolor in the sky.
The Purvanchal Expressway is a part of Government of Uttar Pradesh's initiative to connect Lucknow with Ghazipur in order to improve transportation facilities and trade & commerce activities in East UP and Bihar. Upon the completion of 4-lane wide BuxarâÂÂGhazipur Elevated Road (Bharauli near Buxar to Haydaria in Ghazipur), people can also travel from New Delhi to Patna in Bihar via Agra and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh by using following route:
Note: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced on 28 August 2021 that the Government of India will construct GhazipurâÂÂArrahâÂÂPatna Expressway at an event in Arrah, Bihar.
The first seasonal rains in October 2022 caused wide stretches of road caving deep in, some extending to even 15 feet deep. Accidents were reported at several places, with multiple injuries and damage to numerous cars garnering significant coverage in media. The much proclaimed dream project of Yogi Adityanath, built over a whopping 22000 crore expense by the Yogi government and inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2021, faced subsequent backlash and criticism for the alleged irregularities and corruption in construction of the expressway which couldn't withstand the first few hours of rain within a year following its inauguration.