Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway faces major issues just 18 days post-opening

The newly inaugurated Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway, touted as Uttar Pradesh's most expensive and "American-style" highway, has come under scrutiny after significant structural issues emerged within just 18 days of its opening. Reports indicate that the 63-kilometer-long expressway has witnessed road subsidence at 84 locations, raising serious concerns about construction quality.

According to a report by Dainik Bhaskar, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has declared the construction company, PNC Infratech Limited, as a "non-performer." Three company officials have been removed from the project, and the firm has been blacklisted for two years. The matter is now under investigation by a team from IIT Kharagpur.

The expressway, which cost approximately ₹4,700 crore to build—₹75 crore per kilometer—is the costliest in the state. However, multiple instances of road subsidence have been reported, with patchwork repairs already carried out at 39 locations on the Kanpur-bound lane and 45 on the Lucknow-bound lane. In one area near Izrail Kheda, 200 meters of road had to be rebuilt twice, while another section saw repairs fail within 12 hours, resulting in fresh cracks.

One incident on July 30 saw a truck loaded with gravel sink into the road due to subsidence, leading to the vehicle overturning. The truck owner, Golu Kumar, reported damages of ₹1.5 lakh. Additionally, the expressway's drainage system and shoulders have been found damaged at multiple points, further complicating the situation.

The expressway’s maximum speed limit is 100 km/h, but drivers have reported difficulty maintaining control even at speeds of 50–60 km/h due to uneven surfaces. Comparatively, the Ganga Expressway, which spans 594 kilometers, was built at a lower per-kilometer cost of ₹61 crore.

PNC Infratech, whose owner Pradeep Jain is the brother of BJP Rajya Sabha MP Naveen Jain, had previously faced restrictions on bidding for government projects due to a CBI bribery case in 2024, though these restrictions were later lifted. The company’s handling of this project has now reignited questions about accountability in infrastructure development.