PM GatiShakti has spurred the project planning and implementation of Ayodhya Bypass Project, which will facilitate improvement in connectivity to economic, social and logistics nodes, including tourist and pilgrim sites, across Lucknow, Basti, and Gonda districts.

The Commerce & Industry Ministry said on Friday that the Ayodhya Bypass Project was evaluated during the 52nd NPG meeting as a critical infrastructure project. It is a 67.57 kms greenfield project that will cover the three districts.

It comprises the construction of 4/6 Lane Northern Ayodhya Bypass total length of 35.40 kms and construction of 4/6 Lane Southern Ayodhya Bypass making the total length of 32.172 kms.

The Ministry said the bypass which is expected to cater to multiple forecast increase in passenger and freight vehicle movement, from 89,023 in 2023 and 216,928 in 2033, around eight influence areas around Ayodhya, will also enable seamless movement of people and goods, and reduced travel time to critical national highways such as NH-27: Lucknow– Ayodhya -Gorakhpur; NH-330A: Raebareli -Ayodhya; NH-330: Sultanpur-Ayodhya-Gonda and NH-135A: Akbarpur -Ayodhya.

This project will enhance multi-modality with integrated infrastructure such as Railway Stations (at Ayodhya Railway Station, Sohwal Railway Station, A N Dev Nagar Railway Station and Ayodhya Cantt Railway Station) and Airport (at Ayodhya Airport).

Notably, this project is envisaged to complement and bring synergies along with other proposed projects evaluated in NPG meetings including Prayagraj – Raebareli Project with the construction of Prayagraj City bypass of Total Length of 64.763 km; Gorakhpur-Siliguri Corridor- Development of project stretch from Gorakhpur to Siliguri; and Gorakhpur-Bareilly Corridor- Development of project stretch from Gorakhpur to Rampur.

Economic significance of the project:

With the implementation of the project, the city will be benefitted from multiple factors. The major commodities passing through the city are manufacturing items like leather, textile, plastic & engineering goods; Building Material; Perishable groceries like Fish, dairy, Fruits/Vegetables; and others like Oil, Gas, Iron, Steel & Wood.

The project will also provide efficiencies like 5 Km Length Reduction through peripheral connectivity, 66.67 per cent Travel time Reduction from 1.2hours to 0.4 hours, 250 per cent Increment in average speed from 40 km/hr to 100 km/hr, and Employment Generation.

Also, the project will have environment benefits like 50 lakh Litres Fuel Reduction Annually, 1 crore kg annually reduction in carbon footprints from 40 km/hr to 100 km/hr, and 20 km length use of recyclable/reusable material Construction.

Ayodhya is situated between two economic hubs – Lucknow and Gorakhpur – and major commodities such as leather, engineering goods, building materials, iron and steel pass through the city therefore the construction of this bypass route will facilitate uninterrupted freight flows and decongest the city.

It will enhance multi-modality with integrated infrastructure such as Railway Stations at Ayodhya Railway Station, Sohwal Railway Station, A N Dev Nagar Railway Station and Ayodhya Cantt Railway Station; and at Ayodhya Airport.