UP CM Yogi Adityanath highlights UP’s rapid growth since 2017: From metro expansion in six cities to 16 airports and India’s largest expressway network

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, hosted a press conference in Lucknow on Thursday, 18th September, in which he spoke on the development of the state since 2017, when his government took charge in the state. He shared how the state has transformed over the years, from metro rail expansion to new airports and a growing expressway network. Discussing the metro initiatives in Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath said, that when his government came in power in the state, not a single city in the state had an operational metro. “When we came to power, there was not a single city in Uttar Pradesh where the metro was operational. Today, the metro is running in six cities of the state,” he said. Currently, the entire metro rail network of Uttar Pradesh is 147.446 km. The UP government has received a proposal for the Lucknow Metro Phase-1B, which will connect Charbagh with Vasantkunj. It will be an 11.165 km stretch with a estimated cost of ₹5,801.05 crore and an estimated five-year completion period after sanction. The Lucknow Metro was opened in 2017, the year that he took office in the state. The Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation was reorganized and renamed Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation in 2018 so that it would be able to handle other metro projects in the state as well. The Kanpur Metro was opened in 2021 and was in operation within just 24 months, thus being the world’s fastest constructed and commissioned metro project. The priority corridor of Agra Metro was opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2024. Besides this, Noida metro is running and covers the bigger Delhi NCR network, which is referred to as the Aqua line. Metro rail projects are being built or in advanced planning stages for Agra, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, and Meerut, with expansion intended for other cities such as Bareilly, Jhansi, and Prayagraj. Talking about the development in aviation, the Chief Minister also stated that Uttar Pradesh had only two airports, namely one in Lucknow and another in Varanasi, before 2017.  “Today, there are 16 airports in Uttar Pradesh,” he said. He also added that the country’s largest airport, coming up in Gautam Buddh Nagar, will be operational by the end of this year. According to him, Uttar Pradesh now has the best national highway network in the country. #WATCH | Lucknow | Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath says, "When we came to power, there was not a single city in Uttar Pradesh where the metro was operational. Today, the metro is operational in 6 cities in Uttar Pradesh. Before 2017, there were two airports in Uttar Pradesh.… pic.twitter.com/B1l49o1uom— ANI (@ANI) September 18, 2025 On the matter of expressways, Yogi Adityanath said that previously the state was much behind, but now things have changed. With the building of the Ganga Expressway, the state of Uttar Pradesh alone will get authority over seven percent of the entire expressway network of the country and will be the state with the biggest such network. Highlighting the financial management of his government, he said that all welfare schemes for the poor being implemented across the country have contributions from both the central and state governments. “Over the past eight years, we have maintained financial discipline. Even under the FRBM limit set by the Government of India, Uttar Pradesh, despite being the most populous state, has emerged as one of the fastest-growing state economies,” he said. Concluding his remarks, Yogi Adityanath said that Uttar Pradesh has now become the growth engine of the country. He further stated that the state’s citizens are now experiencing the benefits of the central government’s welfare schemes.