The UP is one of the strongest state economies within India. The state administration, headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, intends to make it India’s first $1-trillion economy. The gross state domestic product will jump tremendously from the current $300 billion to become an extensive network through expressways and industrial corridors. 

UP has initiated a whole sequence of high-profile expressway projects since Adityanath took office in March 2017. Together, either completed or currently under construction, all such projects have a cost pegged at Rs 80,000 crore. Due to the state’s rapidly developing network of expressways and more so because of Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, choosing to call UP as an Express Pradesh. 

Completed projects include 340 km Purvanchal Expressway and the 296-km-long Bundelkhand Expressway that Modi inaugurated at the tail end of 2021 and in the middle of 2022, respectively. A number of key projects being planned in the UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority include the Meerut-Prayagraj Ganga Expressway spanning 594 km long and the 91km long Gorakhpur Link Expressway. A stretch across 12 districts, Ganga Expressway is going to be all set for the 2025 Prayagraj Mahakumbh and this will come for Rs 36,000 crore. 

Apart from these, the National Highways Authority of India is constructing the 63-km Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway and the 380-km Ghaziabad-Kanpur Expressway, which will further enhance the connectivity of the state. With expressways already covering over 40 of UP’s 75 districts, the state leads India in terms of expressway length, with around 1,225 km currently operational. Once all ongoing projects are completed, this total will exceed 1,900 km, making UP a major logistics hub. 

The expansive expressway network is further supported by the development of infrastructure in airports, waterways, and logistics hubs. UP ranks second in ease of doing business among Indian states, benefiting from improved law and order, which has fostered industrial growth. 

The Adityanath government is further focusing on land acquisition as well to support its economic expansion. It aims for a land bank of 150,000 acres by 2027. With 54,000 acres already in place, it plans to acquire 96,000 additional acres to further attract investment across sectors such as manufacturing, tourism, green hydrogen, IT, and agriculture. 

These initiatives will place Uttar Pradesh as a future driver for India’s economic destiny into the investment destination list in South Asia.