UP will pay a 180-million-dollar bonus for completing the Purvanchal Expressway ahead of schedule

*Paromita Das

The 341-kilometer-long Purvanchal Expressway, the ‘dream project’ of the Yogi Adityanath-led UP administration, was finished and launched ahead of schedule.

To celebrate this accomplishment, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to offer contractors a bonus of Rs 180 crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the long-awaited Purvanchal expressway on November 16, 2021, and it has served as a major showpiece project for the administration ahead of the assembly elections.

The contractors reportedly completed the project from Lucknow to Ghazipur, connecting Awadh and Purvanchal, 150 days ahead of schedule.

According to a News18 story, the UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) held a board meeting on February 16 and determined that the project’s two primary contractors would be awarded a ‘bonus for early completion.’

According to the report, the ‘bonus for early completion’ of Rs 180.15 crore sought from the government was listed in their contract clause. The contract stated that contractors would be given a bonus of 0.04% of the contract price for each day of completion before the scheduled completion date, up to a maximum of 6% of the contract price.

“If the bonus is paid as required by the contractors, it would fall within the scope of the programme approved by the government,” the board meeting considered, adding that the idea had been approved by the board.

In addition, the Yogi government claims to have saved over Rs 1,200 crore on this initiative. The Purvanchal expressway, built at an estimated cost of Rs 22500 crore, is a boon to UP tourism at historical sites. The expressway has also cut the travel time from Lucknow to Ghazipur from 6 hours to 3.5 hours.

Meanwhile, the 296-kilometer-long Bundelkhand Expressway from Chitrakoot to Etawah in Uttar Pradesh would be completed ahead of schedule and will be inaugurated in six months.

This Expressway, which is divided into six sections, is scheduled to be completed on January 14, 2023; however, the UPEIDA Board was informed during a February 22 meeting that two sections of the expressway will most likely be completed by the end of April, another by the end of May, and the rest by June of this year.