The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) announced that a 14-kilometer link road connecting the Delhi-Meerut Expressway (DME) with the newly inaugurated Ganga Expressway will be completed by July. This road aims to provide seamless high-speed access from Ghaziabad and Noida to Prayagraj and other eastern Uttar Pradesh districts.
Ganga Expressway Inauguration
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 594-kilometer, six-lane Ganga Expressway on Wednesday. This corridor, the longest expressway in the state, is designed to reduce travel time between Meerut and Prayagraj to six hours.
Link Road Progress
An NHAI official confirmed that work is in full swing, with nearly 80% of the link road project complete. The remaining work is expected to be finished by July. The link road, estimated to cost Rs 524 crore, is effectively the fifth phase of the DME project. It branches off the Dasna-Meerut stretch at Zainuddinpur village near Modinagar and connects to NH-235 in Meerut. From there, a 4-kilometer existing road will eventually connect to the Ganga Expressway.
Second Corridor Planned
A second corridor is also being planned. The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) is preparing a detailed project report for a 74.3-kilometer, 120-meter-wide expressway to connect the Noida International Airport in Jewar and the Yamuna Expressway with the Ganga Expressway at Siyana in Bulandshahr. Approximately 20 kilometers of the road will pass through GB Nagar and 54.3 kilometers through Bulandshahr, linking the Ganga Expressway to the Film City area in Yamuna City. This project will improve connectivity from eastern UP districts to the Noida airport, with commercial operations expected to begin in the first week of June.
Land Acquisition and Costs
In February 2026, the UP government released Rs 1,204 crore for land acquisition for the project. The Yamuna Authority will acquire about 740 acres from 16 villages under its jurisdiction, with the land cost pegged at around Rs 1,200 crore. The overall project cost is estimated at approximately Rs 4,000 crore.
Integrated High-Speed Corridor
Together, the two link roads are expected to create an integrated high-speed corridor spanning western and eastern Uttar Pradesh, significantly reshaping regional connectivity across the National Capital Region (NCR) and beyond.
About the Author: Shafaque Alam is a special correspondent at The Times of India in Noida. He covers traffic, transport, and civic issues of Noida Authority, Greater Noida Authority, and Yamuna Authority. He has a keen interest in video journalism, poetry, and music.
