Cabinet approval marks green signal for ₹14,448 crore Ganga Elevated Corridor in Varanasi
New Delhi, July 15: The Central Government has approved the construction of a 46.039-km long six-lane Greenfield Ganga Elevated Corridor (GEC) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, at a cost of ₹ 14,447.64 crore.
The project was approved in a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. The project, connecting National Highway-19 (NH-19) with the Varanasi Ring Road, will be developed under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) with the aim of reducing traffic congestion in the city, improving connectivity with the Ganga riverbank, and promoting religious tourism.
The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, while giving information about the Cabinet decisions, said that Varanasi receives over 15 crore devotees and tourists every year. In light of the increasing traffic congestion in Kashi, the government has approved this ambitious project to elevate the city’s transportation infrastructure.
He stated that the project will include the construction of a six-lane elevated main road, a magnificent 910-meter-long cable-stayed bridge, a 1.32-kilometer-long extradosed foot overbridge-cum-main bridge, loops, ramps, link roads, and service roads. Of the total project cost, ₹6,037.85 crore will be spent on construction and ₹541.11 crore on land acquisition.
This corridor will provide seamless connectivity between NH-19 and the Varanasi Ring Road and significantly reduce traffic pressure on the city’s road network. With a design speed of 80 to 100 kilometers per hour, the average travel time in the project area will be reduced from 60 minutes to 20 minutes. The travel time from NH-19 to Kashi Railway Station will be reduced from 50 minutes to approximately 25 minutes.
This project will strengthen Varanasi’s multi-modal transportation network, in line with the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan. It will provide improved connectivity between NH-19, Varanasi Ring Road, Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Kashi Railway Station, Banaras Railway Station, Varanasi City Railway Station, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Junction, and Ramnagar Inland Waterways (IWAI) Port.
It will also provide easier access to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Namo Ghat, Ramnagar Fort, and the ghats of Varanasi. The proposed elevated spur between BHU-Lanka and Samne Ghat will help alleviate heavy traffic congestion at the Lanka intersection. This will also reduce traffic congestion on NH-19, the BHU-Ramnagar corridor, and NH-35.
The key features of the project include a 910-metre-long cable-stayed bridge over the River Ganga, a 1.32-km-long extradosed footover bridge with travelators to facilitate easy access of devotees to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, rail overbridges over the existing and proposed Malviya Bridges, emergency parking bays, noise barriers, attractive lighting and architectural designs inspired by the cultural heritage of Varanasi.
