Purvanchal Expressway
Purvanchal Expressway
341 km
Open
Uttar Pradesh
Expressway
Route
Purvanchal Expressway runs 341 km from Chand Sarai, Lucknow district, Uttar Pradesh to Haidaria, Ghazipur district, Uttar Pradesh.
Crosses Uttar Pradesh.
Through Lucknow, Haidergarh, Sultanpur, Akbarpur, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur.
Why it matters
The Purvanchal Expressway cut the Lucknow–Ghazipur drive roughly in half and gave eastern Uttar Pradesh — home to tens of millions of people — its first proper fast road. Farmers and small factories can now reach Lucknow and Delhi markets in a day, and the state is trying to use the corridor to pull industry into a region most people used to leave in search of work. It also matters for defence: the emergency airstrip lets air force aircraft use the expressway as a runway.
History
The Purvanchal Expressway was built to connect Lucknow with Purvanchal, the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, which had few fast roads. Purvanchal is one of the most crowded and least industrialised parts of India, and its towns — Azamgarh, Mau, Ghazipur, Sultanpur — were hours apart on narrow, jammed highways. Construction began in 2018 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened it in November 2021, arriving in a large air force plane that landed right on the expressway. It runs 341 km from Chand Sarai near Lucknow to Haidaria near the Bihar border, and it was the longest expressway in India on the day it opened. Because it plugs into the Agra–Lucknow and Yamuna expressways at the Lucknow end, a driver can now go almost all the way from Delhi to the Bihar border on access-controlled roads. UPEIDA built it wide enough to add two more lanes later, and the Gorakhpur Link Expressway was added afterwards to bring in traffic from the north-east of the state.
Good to know
- India's longest expressway when it opened in November 2021.
- Has a 3.2 km emergency airstrip near Kurebhar in Sultanpur district for air force planes.
- At the opening ceremony, a C-130J Hercules aircraft carrying the Prime Minister landed directly on the expressway.
- The 91 km Gorakhpur Link Expressway joins it at Salarpur in Azamgarh district.
- Passes through nine districts of Uttar Pradesh.
- Built as six lanes but with bridges and land wide enough to become eight lanes later.
- Together with the Agra–Lucknow and Yamuna expressways it forms a near-continuous fast road from Delhi to eastern Uttar Pradesh.
- It was finished in about three years, quick for a project of this size.
Timeline
- 2018Foundation stone laid and construction begins
- 2021Inaugurated on 16 November; the Prime Minister's C-130J Hercules lands on the expressway
Key junctions
- Chand Sarai, Lucknow — the western start, linked to the Lucknow ring road and the Agra–Lucknow Expressway
- Haidergarh, Barabanki — first major exit after Lucknow
- Kurebhar, Sultanpur — exit beside the emergency airstrip section
- Salarpur, Azamgarh — where the Gorakhpur Link Expressway joins from the north
- Haidaria, Ghazipur — the eastern end, joining the highway toward Varanasi and the Bihar border
Engineering highlights
- Kurebhar emergency airstrip — a 3.2 km dead-straight, extra-strong stretch in Sultanpur district where air force planes can land and take off
- Six lanes widenable to eight — the bridges, embankments and land strip were all built oversized so two more lanes can be added without rebuilding
On the road
Lucknow to Ghazipur takes about four hours on the expressway, against six or more on the old highways. Toll is charged by distance at six plazas, and FASTag is the easy way to pay. There are long gaps between fuel pumps and food stops, so fill up and eat before joining. Winter fog from December to January and stray cattle wandering on to the carriageway are the two real hazards, and night driving is best avoided.
What’s coming next
- Two extra lanes can be added to make it eight lanes when traffic grows.
More details
- Lanes
- 6 lanes, access-controlled (expandable to 8)
- Project cost
- ₹22,494 crore (approx., including land)