NEW DELHI: The government today approved Rs 4,428-crore highway projects in Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh under its highways building programme NHDP The projects were approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today.The project in Uttar Pradesh pertains to four-laning of Lucknow-Sultanpur section on NH-56."This work will be under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase-IV. The approval is in Hybrid Annuity Mode ," a statement from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said after the meeting.The cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 2844.72 crore including cost of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities. The total length of the road will be approximately 128 kms.The second project approved by the government pertained to two-laning with formation of four lane of Shimla Bypass (Kaithlighat to Shimla section) on NH-22 in Himachal Pradesh.This work will be under the NHDP Phase-III."The cost is estimated to be Rs 1,583.18 crore including cost of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities. The total length of the road will be approximately 28 kms."The main object of the project is to expedite improvement of infrastructure in Himachal Pradesh and also in reducing the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, plying on the Kaithlighat to Shimla section on National Highway-22, it added.