With the next Assembly election less than seven months away, the state government has planned to inaugurate at least 76 development projects worth more than Rs 57,800 crore. It has identified at least 34 projects, worth over Rs 9,691 crore, for which foundation stones could be laid in the next 100 days.
The bid to showcase the strides being made by the state on the development front will start with the laying of the foundation stone for a state-of-the-art Forensic Institute in Lucknow and Maa Vindhyavasini Devi Corridor by Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday. In addition to these, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to lay the foundation stone for the Noida International Airport in Jewar, Greater Noida and inaugurate nine new medical colleges in the state. The medical colleges were earlier set to be inaugurated on July 30, but the date has now been extended.
While most of these projects are either completed or are about to be finished in the next few months, the government has planned to inaugurate only a few sections of some specific projects that are nearing completion.
Religious tourism has been one of the focus areas of the state government, with stress on developing districts such as Ayodhya, Gorakhpur, Mathura, Varanasi and Prayagraj as a tourism hub.
Six projects commissioned by the Ministry of Tourism, worth over Rs 364.16 crore, are to be inaugurated by the government in the coming days. The government is about to finish development work in Ayodhya as part of the ‘Ramayana Circuit’. The project involves development of Ram Katha gallery, Queen Heo memorial, Ayodhya bus stand, multi-level parking facility at the bus stand, a tourist shelter at Panchkoshi Parikrama, Ram Ki Paidi, Laxman Kila Ghat, street revamp and a road to Hanuman Garhi, Kanak Bhawan and Dashrath Bhawan.
While Digambar Akhada and Guptar Ghat have already been inaugurated by the CM, the rest are to be inaugurated in the coming days.
The other projects include development of Chitrakoot and Shringverpur, where the government has finished revamp work on Sandhya ghat, solar lighting and signage parking. A section of the project has already been inaugurated. Projects at Shrawasti, Kushinagar and Kapilvastu, which involves the setting up of Buddha theme park and beautification of the World Peace Bell, are also about to be completed.
In Gautam Buddha Nagar, Banda and Bulandshahr, the ongoing work on Spiritual Circuit 3, straddling Jewar, Dadri, Sikandrabad, Noida, Khurja and Banda, is expected to be completed in October. The project also involves development of temple complexes near Simauni Baba, as well as a cooking area, drinking water kiosk and a Ramleela ground. The state has 10 spiritual circuits.
As part of the Spiritual Circuit 4, which covers the Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur, Devipattan temple in Balrampur and Vatvasni temple in Domariyaganj, the government is close to finishing the development projects. It is also developing infrastructure at Govardhan in Mathura. While the project is under implementation, the component of a multi-level car parking facility is expected to be completed soon and a tentative inauguration date will be discussed.
Housing, sewage treatment plants and power sector
The highest number of projects under implementation, 24 to be precise, were commissioned by the Ministry and Housing and Urban Affairs at a cost of about Rs 12,709.52 crore. The ministry has built, or is in the process of building affordable housing, water supply system, sewerage and Integrated Command Control Centres in several districts, along with a priority corridor under the Kanpur Metro rail project. The foundation stone for 12 projects, worth Rs 12.27 crore, is planned to be laid soon.
Of the projects to be inaugurated in the next 100 days, seven, worth Rs1,310.26 crore, are under the Ministry of Jal Shakti and are related to the sewerage system, treatment and pollution abatement. The foundation stone for another four projects, worth Rs 5.65 crore, is also expected to be laid soon.
Under the Ministry of Power, the government is set to launch seven projects worth Rs 23,689 crore. The projects include 1320 MW coal-based supercritical thermal power projects in Ambedkarnagar and Prayagraj. The foundation stone for another project, worth Rs 319.15 crore, is also expected to be laid soon.
Roads, Highways, Aviation and Railways
A bouquet of 16 projects, commissioned by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and worth Rs 14,259.74 crore, are said to have been completed. The projects include rehabilitation and upgradation of the Indo-Nepal border, connecting Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha and a world heritage tourist site, with Varanasi and Sarnath. The other significant projects include the NH-2 corridor in Agra, Firozabad, Mainpuri and Etawah, and upgradation of sections of the Aligarh-Kanpur Road in Etah and Mainpuri.
The construction of a greenfield airport at Kushinagar, under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, has been completed at a cost of Rs 260 crore. The foundation stone for the Jewar airport, built at a cost of Rs 8,914 crore, will be laid soon by the PM. The foundation stone for the Ayodhya Airport, which is being raised at a cost of Rs 242.14 crore, will also be laid in September.
The government is also about to finish seven railway projects worth Rs 2,180 crore. These are spread across Mahoba, Ghazipur, Varanasi, Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur. Another project worth Rs 180 crore is to be implemented soon.
Two projects worth Rs 1,304.11 crore under the Ayush department have been completed. These are the Ayurveda Research Pharmacy Drug Testing Lab and special units on mineral & metals in Jhansi, and construction of the Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CRIUM) building in Lucknow.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has nearly completed work on four different projects at a cost of Rs 16.69 crore, including courts and multipurpose indoor halls in Meerut, Sonbhadra, Lucknow and Maharajganj. Six projects under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports will also be implemented soon. The cost of these projects is expected to be Rs 19.3 lakh.
Under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, an integrated industrial township project, at a cost of Rs 1,714.7 crore, has been completed at Gautam Buddha Nagar. The foundation stone for two projects under the Ministry of Science and Technology, worth Rs 75 lakh, is also expected to be laid soon.
The foundation stone for at least six MSME projects, under the Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) and worth Rs 17.90 crore, are also to be laid within the next 100 days.