Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the Uttar Pradesh government Thursday earmarked Rs 3,194 crore for the construction of expressways and Rs 13,135 crore for laying of roads in the state.
Presenting the budget speech in the state assembly, Finance Minister Rajesh Agarwal said the Uttar Pradesh government has also earmarked Rs 3,522 crore for the maintenance of roads and expressways by the Public Works Department (PWD).
“For construction of expressways, a total budgetary provision of Rs 3,194 crore has been made in the budget for 2019-20. Out of the total provisioned amount – Rs 1,194 crore is for Purvanchal Expressway and Rs 1,000 crore each for Bundelkhand Expressway and Gorakhpur Link Expressway,” Agarwal said.
Besides Rs 500 crore is proposed for land acquisition to develop defence corridor along with Bundelkhand expressway and Rs 100 crore allocated for strengthening of the proposed Agra-Lucknow entry-controlled 6-lane expressway (Green Field) project, he said.
A provision of Rs 600 crore for implementation of Infrastructure and Industrial Investment Policy-2012, Rs 482 crore for Industrial Investment and Employment Promotion Policy-2017 and Rs 120 crore has been allocated for Industrial Investment Promotion Scheme-2003.
A provision of Rs 180 crore has been made for Industrial Investment Promotion Scheme-2012.
For public welfare, Rs 13,135 crore is proposed for construction of roads under PWD and Rs 3,522 crore for maintenance of roads.
There is also a provision of Rs 2,100 crore for construction and maintenance of bridges, Rs 850 crore to connect the villages and settlements through concrete link roads under various schemes and Rs 1,174 crore for widening and strengthening of important roads on the interstate and international border.
Moreover, the 2019-20 Uttar Pradesh Budget also stressed on development and beautification of religious places, including those in Ayodhya, Varanasi, Mathura and Allahabad.
The Yogi Adityanath government in the budget has proposed Rs 207 crore for expansion and beautification of the road from the Ganga bank to the Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, and Rs 101 crore for the integrated development of major tourist places in Ayodhya.
While Rs. 8.38 crore has been proposed to get an auditorium constructed between Mathura and Vridavan, a provision of Rs 5 crore has been made for construction of boundary walls around public Ramleela grounds.
Provision of Rs 1 crore has been made to strengthen the Vrindavan Shodh Sansthan and Rs 125 crore for infrastructure facilities in Uttar Pradesh’s Brij Tirtha.
In the budget, a provision of Rs 70 crore for implementation of Tourism Policy- 2018 and Rs 50 crore for Pro-Poor Tourism has been made.
Besides, a budgetary provision of Rs 16 crore has been made to setup the Vaidik Vigyan Kendra at the Kashi Hindu Vishwavidyalaya in Varanasi, according to budget documents.
It is also proposed to develop Rishi Bhardwaj Ashram and Shringverpur Dham in Allahabad and Rs 27 crore has been proposed for the integrated development of major tourist places in Garh Mukteshwar.
Moreover, the government has proposed in the budget to ensure development of Vindhyachal and Naimisharanya; and Sarnath, Shravasti, Kushinagar, Kapilvastu, Kaushambi and Sankisa under the Buddhist Circuit.
For minority welfare, a provision of Rs 942 crore under the Scholarship Scheme for students belonging to minority communities has been made and Rs 459 crore proposed for modernisation of Arabi-Farsi Madarsas.
There was also an allocation of Rs 300 crore for special schemes of Purvanchal and Rs 200 crore for special schemes of Bundelkhand, under Special Area Programme in the budget.
