Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the 341-km Purvanchal Expressway in Uttar Pradesh after landing on the highway airstrip in an IAF C-130 Hercules plane.
Dedicating the Purvanchal Expressway to the people, PM Modi recalled how three years ago, the stretch of land he was now on used to be barren.
"Those who have any doubt on capabilities of Uttar Pradesh, on capabilities of people of Uttar Pradesh should come to Sultanpur today to witness their capability. Such a modern expressway has now come up where it was just a piece of land 3-4 years back," PM Modi said.
"When I laid the foundation stone of Purvanchal Expressway 3 years back, I had never thought that I will land here on an aircraft one day," he added.
Addressing the gathering, PM Modi said that country's security is as important as its prosperity. "In a short while from now, we will see that how Purvanchal Expressway has now become one more power for the Indian Air Force in cases of emergency. Our fighter plane will land on the expressway shortly," he added.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Governor Anandiben Patel and other leaders were present at the occasion.
The 341 kilometre-long Purvanchal Expressway starts from village Chaudsarai, district Lucknow located on Lucknow-Sultanpur road (NH-731) and ends at village Hydaria located on National Highway number 31, 18 kilometres east of the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border.
The key feature of the Expressway is the 3.2 km long airstrip to enable landing and take-off of Indian Air Force fighter planes in case of emergency.
The expressway is 6-lane wide which can be expanded to 8-lane in the future. Constructed at an estimated cost of about Rs 22,500 crore, the Purvanchal Expressway is set to give a boost to the economic development of the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh especially the districts of Lucknow, Barabanki, Amethi, Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur.
(With inputs from ANI)
