Varanasi–Kolkata Expressway, also known as Varanasi–Ranchi–Kolkata Expressway (numbered as NH-319B), is an under-construction long, six-lane, greenfield access-controlled expressway, which will connect the spiritual city of

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

with the capital of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, through the capital of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

Ranchi Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern ...

. It will run almost parallel to the

Grand Trunk Road Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sadak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sadak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. It r ...

or the

Asian Highway 1 Asian Highway 1 (AH1) is the longest east-west route of the Asian Highway Network, running from Tokyo, Japan via the Korean Peninsula (South Korea and North Korea), China (Mainland China and Hong Kong), Mainland Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Camb ...

, and will pass through four states–Uttar Pradesh,

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

and West Bengal. The expressway is a part of

Bharatmala Pariyojana The Bharatmala Pariyojna ( 'India garland project') is a project in India implemented by Government of India. It was slated to interconnect 550 District Headquarters (from the current 300) through a minimum 4-lane highway by raising the numbe ...

, and it will reduce both travel time and distance, from 14-15 hours to only 10-11 hours. It will start from Chandauli district in Uttar Pradesh, and will terminate near Sarisha, near

Diamond Harbour Diamond Harbour is a town and municipality located in the South 24 Parganas district of the Indian state of West Bengal. Situated on the eastern banks of the Hooghly River, it serves as the administrative headquarters of the Diamond Harbour su ...

, West Bengal. The

foundation stone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

for the expressway's construction was laid by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

on 23 February 2024. To be built at a cost of about , it is expected to be completed by 2026/27.

History

The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

has given special emphasis on infrastructure development in FY 2022–23. To improve connectivity, tourism, development and economic growth in

eastern India East India is a region consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The states of Bihar and West Bengal lie on the Indo-Gangetic plain. Jharkhan ...

, the Government of India planned to build a new expressway from

through

. The expressway is expected to cut travel time from 12 to 14 hours to 6–7 hours, and from to . It will pass through four states–

and

. Once completed, these states will see exponential growth with the growth of industries and socio-economic development by promoting employment among people living in the regions, which the regions currently mostly lack altogether. The expressway was earlier slated to be eight-lane, but was reduced six lanes due to lack of space. It was initially planned to be built at a cost of , and will be completed by 2027, which was earlier scheduled in the first quarter of 2026. On 23 February 2024, the

for the construction was laid by

for its first package till Bihar, to be built at a cost of about .

Route

, - , UP , , - , BR , , - , JH , , - , WB , , - , Total ,

Uttar Pradesh

The western terminus of the expressway will be located in Chandauli district near

. The western end of the expressway near Barhuli village will be connected with the National Highway 19 (NH-19) and the Varanasi Ring Road. The expressway will cover a total distance of within Uttar Pradesh.

Bihar

The expressway will cross the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border and will enter through

Kaimur district Kaimur district is one of the 38 districts of Bihar, India. The district headquarters are at Bhabua. Before 1991, it was part of Rohtas District. Till 1764 the region (Kaimur district) was a part of Ghazipur District and was a part of Kamsaar ...

. It will cross the state through the districts of Kaimur,

Aurangabad Aurangabad (), officially renamed as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in 2023, is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a ...

, Rohtas and Gaya. The expressway will cover a total distance of within Bihar.

Jharkhand

The expressway will cross the Bihar-Jharkhand border and will enter the

Chatra district Chatra district is district one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state, India. The district was formed after separation from Hazaribagh district in 1991. Chatra is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district covers a ...

. It will cross the state through the districts of Chatra,

Hazaribagh Hazaribagh is a city and a municipal corporation in Hazaribagh district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is also the administrative headquarters of Hazaribagh district and divisional headquarters of North Chotanagpur division. It is known ...

, Ramgarh and Bokaro. The expressway will cover a total distance of within Jharkhand.

West Bengal

The eastern terminus of the expressway will be located at

Haldia Haldia () is an industrial port city in Purba Medinipur district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It has a major river port and industrial belt located approximately southwest of Kolkata near the mouth of the Hooghly River, one of the d ...

with an extended route including a Vertical Lift Bridge on Hooghly River to connect Sarisha near

. It will cross the state through the districts of

Purulia Purulia, officially Purulia Sadar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Purulia district. It is located on the north of the Kangsabati River. Geography Location Purulia is locate ...

Bankura Bankura () is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bankura district. Etymology It comes from the old Austric word ráŕhá or ráŕho which means “land of red soil”.P.R. Sarkar Rarh - ...

Paschim Medinipur Paschim Medinipur (English: ''West Medinipur'', alternative spelling ''Midnapore'') district is one of the districts of the state of West Bengal, India. It was formed on 1 January 2002 after the partition of Midnapore into Paschim Medinipur a ...

, Hooghly and

Purba Medinipur East Medinipur (Alternative spelling ''Midnapore'') district is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the southernmost district of Medinipur division – one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The ...

. The expressway will cover a total distance of within West Bengal.

Construction

The expressway will be fully six-lane and a greenfield project, and will be built using the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) construction model, which provides and ensures security, liability caps, and a performance guarantee for an infrastructure. For the project, the soil testing work in

was conducted in June 2022. It will run almost parallel with the National Highway 19 (NH-19), or the

or the

. The land acquisition process started in January 2022 on an 80-km section of the expressway, from Tilouthu to Imamganj in

. The

National Highways Authority of India The National Highways Authority of India or NHAI () is an autonomous agency of the Government of India, set up in 1995 (Act 1988) and is responsible for management of a road network of over 50,000 km of National highways out of 1,32,499 ...

(NHAI) released tenders and invited bids in November 2022 for the construction of the expressway. As of March 2023, the project has been divided into 13 packages, and the package division for the West Bengal section is still underway. In Package-1, NHAI issued global tenders, and allocated ₹ 988 crore for the construction of the 27 km stretch from Varanasi Ring Road in Uttar Pradesh to Khainti village in Bihar, and in Package-2, ₹ 945 crore has been allocated for the construction of another 27 km stretch from Khainti village to Palka village in Bihar, wherein it will be built using the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) mode of construction. In the West Bengal section, the

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal, also known as the West Bengal Government, is the Administrative division, principal administrative authority of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal, created by the Constitution ...

has directed 6 districts of the state to carry out land acquisition for the project, and is underway. Currently, the project is under

Detailed Project Report A project plan, is a series of structured tasks, objectives, and schedule to a complete a desired outcome, according to a project managers designs and purpose. According to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), is: "...a formal, appro ...

(DPR) preparation and land acquisition. The

for the expressway's construction by starting from the first package was laid by

in February 2024. The following table list the project's packages, contractors and their statuses.

Uttar Pradesh/Bihar

Bihar

Jharkhand

The remaining stretch till

is under package division, land acquisition may start soon as DPR preparation is finished.

Benefits

The expressway will benefit

along with the entire country as follows: *Trade: The expressway will help to boost trade, increase exports and reduce dependency on imports, as it will result in the growth of industries in Eastern India, along the route through which the expressway will pass, especially in the adjoining regions of

further, and due to its location near the sea with two major ports–

and

, resulting in a huge benefit for transporting steel and coal to the ports from the famous steel plants and coal mines located in the mineral-rich state of Jharkhand, the

Bokaro Steel Plant Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) is located in the Bokaro district of Jharkhand. It is the fourth integrated public sector steel plant in India built with Soviet technology. It is the second largest steel plant in India after Bhilai Steel Plant and 3 ...

and coal mines of Dhanbad, thus accelerating economic growth and development in the four states. *Tourism: It will help to boost tourism by promoting it in places which currently lack, along its route. The alignment of the expressway has been specially made through the backward areas to help facilitate tourism and development, due to a high presence of small tourist spots, dotted across the four states, especially in Jharkhand and the western part of West Bengal, but remain relatively unknown to most people because of lack of accessibility to those areas. *Connectivity: The expressway will create a direct 710 km route between

and Kolkata, by reducing both travel time and distance from 14 to 11 hours It will not only connect Varanasi, but will also connect Kolkata directly with the

national capital A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational division, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encomp ...

, as well as

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

, through a series of expressways, along with this– Purvanchal Expressway, Agra–Lucknow Expressway and

Yamuna Expressway Yamuna Expressway is a 6-lane wide (expandable to 8) and long access-controlled expressway in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is presently India's sixth longest expressway and connects Greater Noida with Agra. It was built to de-conge ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, and to Jammu and Kashmir via the Delhi–Katra Expressway. In the coming years, instead of Purvanchal and Agra–Lucknow Expressways, the

Ganga Expressway Ganga Expressway is an under-construction, long, 6-lane (expandable to 8 lanes), greenfield expressway along the Ganges River connecting eastern and western boundaries of Uttar Pradesh state in India. It constitutes two phases, almost-complete ...

will connect Kolkata more faster, as well as with

Haridwar Haridwar (; ; formerly Mayapuri) is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. With a population of 228,832 in 2011, it is the second-largest city in the state and the largest in the district. The city is s ...

. This expressway till Varanasi will also connect

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

via the Chambal Expressway through the Agra–Lucknow Expressway. This series of expressways will result in faster, better and safer commute for both the transport of goods and people, with the rest of the country, from Eastern India. *Protection of the Environment: To protect the green cover, plants and trees will be planted between and on both sides along the entire route of the expressway. In the

section of

, a 5 km-long tunnel will be built along the hilly region to avoid deforestation. *Employment: Due to increase in industrial activities along the expressway's route, various agricultural and industrial initiatives will help in the economy and growth of Eastern India. The establishment of these numerous centres will result in multiple job possibilities for thousands of people living in the four states.

Status updates

*2019: The expressway's plan was proposed by the

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is a ministry of the Government of India, that is the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules, regulations and laws relating to road transport, transport research and in al ...

(MoRTH). *November 2022: The

(NHAI) launched tenders for the project. *January 2023: Land acquisition began for the project. *March 2023: 15 bidders participated to construct 8 packages of the expressway. *March 2023: 11 bidders participated to construct the expressway's

to the Jharkhand-

border section. *April 2023: The bidding process has been entirely completed for the Jharkhand section, and land acquisition has started. *July 2023: The expressway was declared as a national highway by the NHAI as NH-319B. *February 2024: The

was laid by

for the construction of the expressway.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolkata-Varanasi Expressway Expressways in Uttar Pradesh Expressways in West Bengal Proposed expressways in India Proposed infrastructure in Bihar Proposed infrastructure in Jharkhand Proposed infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh Proposed infrastructure in West Bengal Transport in Varanasi Transport in Kolkata

History

Route

Uttar Pradesh

Bihar

Jharkhand

West Bengal

Construction

Uttar Pradesh/Bihar

Bihar

Jharkhand

Benefits

Status updates

See also

Notes

References