Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Purvanchal Expressway at Karwal Kheri in Sultanpur district on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister landed in a C-130 Hercules plane on the airstrip constructed on the Expressway

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Governor Anandiben Patel and other leaders were present at the occasion.

The 341 kilometre-long Purvanchal Expressway starts from village Chaudsarai, district Lucknow located on Lucknow-Sultanpur road (NH-731) and ends at village Hydaria located on National Highway number 31, 18 kilometres east of the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border..

The key feature of the Expressway is the 3.2 km long airstrip to enable landing and take-off of Indian Air Force fighter planes in case of emergency.

The expressway is 6-lane wide which can be expanded to 8-lane in the future. Constructed at an estimated cost of about Rs 22,500 crore, the Purvanchal Expressway is set to give a boost to the economic development of the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh especially the districts of Lucknow, Barabanki, Amethi, Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur.