Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday, during a review meeting with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, directed officials to fast-track the state’s next phase of National Highway expansion after it completed 1,010 km of highways and attracted ₹23,445 crore of road investment during FY2025-26 and up to May 2026.
With the focus now shifting to the FY27 execution pipeline, officials were asked to expedite land acquisition, forest clearances and utility shifting for 10 National Highway projects covering 267 km under tendering, while advancing a longer-term roadmap that includes the proposed 742-km Shamli-Gorakhpur access-controlled corridor, four-lane connectivity to 33 district headquarters, new ring roads and bypasses, and DPRs for the Ayodhya-Gonda and Rewa-Ranchi highways.
From execution to expansion
The review marked a transition from completing the state’s existing National Highway pipeline to preparing the next phase of infrastructure aimed at strengthening industrial, logistics, airport and religious tourism connectivity across Uttar Pradesh.
Officials informed the meeting that 606 km of National Highway projects were approved between April 2025 and May 2026, while 1,010 km were completed during the same period. National Highway investment in the state reached ₹23,445 crore during FY2025-26, taking cumulative investment since 2014 to about ₹1.94 lakh crore. Since 2014, around 10,204 km of National Highway projects have been awarded, of which 9,329 km have already been completed.
“Uttar Pradesh has emerged as a key driver of India’s economic growth, making the development of world-class road connectivity in the state one of the Central Government’s highest priorities,” Gadkari said while directing officials to speed up statutory approvals to ensure timely completion of projects. He said effective coordination between the Centre and the state had helped accelerate project implementation.
FY27 execution pipeline
The meeting reviewed several major highway projects currently under construction, including the ₹13,980-crore Mathura-Bareilly-Sitarganj four-lane highway, the ₹5,904-crore Agra-Aligarh four-lane project, the Agra-Gwalior-Jhansi-Nagpur Economic Corridor, Kanpur Ring Road, the six-lane connectivity project to Noida International Airport at Jewar and the Moradabad-Kashipur highway.
Together, these projects are expected to strengthen freight movement between the National Capital Region, western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and key industrial and logistics hubs.
The review also covered projects progressing across eastern and central Uttar Pradesh, including the Sonauli-Gorakhpur four-lane highway, the Ghazipur-Ballia-Bihar border corridor, the Prayagraj Southern Ring Road and the Prayagraj-Jaunpur-Azamgarh-Doharighat highway, improving connectivity with Nepal, Bihar and the Buddhist tourism circuit.
Next growth phase
Beyond projects currently under execution, the Centre and the state reviewed the next pipeline of strategic infrastructure. This includes DPRs for the Ayodhya-Gonda and Rewa-Ranchi four-lane highways, the proposed 742-km access-controlled Shamli-Gorakhpur National Highway, additional four-lane National Highway connectivity to 33 district headquarters, ring roads in several cities and a proposed North-South Corridor.
The Uttar Pradesh government said the Shamli-Gorakhpur corridor would improve connectivity between western and eastern Uttar Pradesh while supporting industrial growth, freight movement, agriculture and investment. Gadkari assured the state that its proposals, including the North-South Corridor, would receive positive consideration.
Road safety, environment
Gadkari said road safety must receive the same priority as highway construction, directing officials to incorporate safer road design, scientific rectification of black spots, modern signage and stricter safety standards in every National Highway project.
He also asked officials to transplant trees using modern technology instead of cutting them wherever feasible, saying infrastructure development and environmental protection must progress together.
Published on July 13, 2026
