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Updated: Jan 29, 2019 15:56 IST

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today announced a 600 km-long, six-lane expressway would be constructed to link the western part of the state to the east to be built at a cost of Rs 36,000 crore.

“This will be world’s longest expressway, approximately 600 km, it will take 6,556 hectares of land, it will cost approximately Rs 36,000 crore,” ANI quoted him as saying.

The Ganga Expressway will pass through Meerut, Amroha, Bulandshahr, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Kannauj, Unnao, Raebareli, Pratapgarh before connecting Prayagraj, he said after a first-ever cabinet meeting at the Kumbh. The meeting was held in the office of the Prayagraj Mela Authority which organises the Kumbh Mela

The meeting in Prayagraj was part of a series of decisions that Adityanath has taken to boost the profile of the Kumbh Mela, one of the world’s largest pilgrimages.

The cabinet also decided to expedite the land acquisition process for the 296-km Bundelkhand expressway and sanctioned Rs 8864 crore for the project to acquire 3641 hectares of land.

Another road, the Gorakhpur link of Purvanchal Expressway will be constructed at a cost of Rs 5555 crore.

Adityanath also announced exemption of SGST for the film ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’ which the cabinet had watched ahead of the meeting

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Prayagraj: There is a movie on the surgical strikes 'Uri', cabinet has decided to exempt it from state GST. This film will instill a feeling of nationalism in the youth and the citizens of the country. pic.twitter.com/J2F0EXjJEy — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 29, 2019

The cabinet also decided that houses to be given to 3791 lepers in the state under CM Awas Yojana.

According to another decision, doctors at Lucknow’s Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute (SGPGI) will now get allowance and other benefits at par with doctors of AIIMS.

He also welcomed Union government ‘s decision to file a plea in Supreme Court to transfer excess land in Ram temple case to the Ram Janambhoomi Trust.