The construction of the 520 km Gorakhpur-Siliguri greenfield expressway may commence soon as the land acquisition work has acquired momentum.

The four-lane expressway is being constructed by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will connect Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh to Siliguri in West Bengal via nine districts of Bihar. It will cover 84.3 km in Uttar Pradesh, 416.2 km in Bihar, and 18.97 km in West Bengal for a total coverage of 519.58 km.

The project has been undertaken under Bharatmala Pariyojana (BMP) Phase 2 and will reduce the travel time to about six hours.

The expressway will pass through Deoria and Kushinagar districts in UP and West Champaran, East Champaran, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Supaul, Forbesganj and Kishanganj in Bihar, and go through Darjeeling before finally reaching Siliguri.

After 80 per cent of the acquisition work is completed, a tender will be issued. The expected outlay for the construction of this expressway is Rs 32,000 crore.

The projected year for project completion is by 2025.