Patna, rush to the Capital in 10 hours

To provide a hassle-free option, the BJP-led government is targeting to minimise the journey time from Delhi to Patna – 1,100 kilometres by road in 11 hours.

The plan is set at the Centre, as the next general election is due to address the issue of poor road connectivity in the two politically crucial states of UP and Bihar.

The plan visualises a network of ring roads and expressways creating a new economic corridor on the lines of the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor.

The present gruelling road journey of 18 hours between Delhi and Patna was even longer before the Agra-Lucknow expressway became operational earlier this year. It will assist in slashing travel time by at least a third between the three major political centres of Delhi, Lucknow and Patna.

Keen to address the issue of poor road connectivity, the BJP governments at the Centre and in UP and Bihar, where the party is part of a coalition with JD U, are keen
“This is a very positive step as expressways will attract big traffic,” said Awanish K Awasthi, the CEO of UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority.

The Agra-Lucknow expressway was already seeing good traffic, with more than 32,000 cars and small vehicles taking the expressway on Diwali day when airfares were high.

Four new projects will be executed to implement this vision. The road transport and highways ministry has offered to build and fund an expressway connecting Patna with the second project, a 350-km long Purvanchal Expressway that will connect Lucknow to Ghazipur.

The Purvanchal Expressway will be the longest in the country, along with the Patna Expressway to be built by the NHAI is expected to reduce the journey from

The Patna expressway will cost almost Rs 2,000 crore. If provided land, the Purvanchal Expressway to Patna can get extended,” said a road transport and highways ministry official.

The third project will be an outer ring road in Lucknow, to be built by the NHAI, which will connect the 302-km Agra-Lucknow Expressway with the proposed Purvanchal Expressway without the commuters needing to enter the traffic congestion of Lucknow, Awasthi said.

The BJP governments’ 2019 target to shorten the travel hours by 11 sounds quite exciting but eyes are sure to keep rolling till its implementation.