The Indian Air Force (IAF) landed three aircraft as part of a trial run on the Purvanchal Expressway in Uttar Pradesh (UP) Sunday ahead of the 340.8-km-long six-lane highway’s inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 16.

Footage shared by news agency ANI showed a Mirage 2000, an AN-32 turboprop and a Sukhoi-30 landing on an emergency landing strip on the Purvanchal Expressway that connects UP capital Lucknow with eastern districts of Barabanki, Amethi, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur.

The access-controlled Purvanchal Expressway will boost connectivity with 22 flyovers, 7 railway-over-bridges (ROB), 7 major bridges, 114 minor bridges, 6 toll plazas, 45 vehicular-underpasses (VUP), 139 Light VUP, 87 pedestrian underpass and 525 box culverts.

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“The eastern region of the state would not only be connected to Lucknow but also further to the National Capital through Agra-Lucknow and Yamuna Expressways,” according to a government release.

The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) had divided construction work of Purvanchal Expressway into 8 packages, which were awarded to 5 different contractors. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said the Purvanchal Expressway will be the backbone of the economy of the state’s eastern region.

Yogi said the Purvanchal Expressway’s foundation was laid in 2018 and was completed in barely 19 months despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Purvanchal Expressway is the first of six expressways approved since 2017 to be opened for transport on November 16. It will provide benefits like fuel-saving, time saving and control in pollution level, along with reduction in accidents. The expressway will pave for establishment of industrial training institutes, educational institutions, medical institutes, new townships and other commercial setups, resulting in creation of more employment opportunities in the region.

The Purvanchal Expressway, after getting connected with the existing Agra-Lucknow Expressway, will become a vast industrial corridor connecting eastern border of the state with the western border resulting in overall development of the state.