The state of Uttar Pradesh in India has laid the foundation on the 302km Agra-Lucknow Expressway, starting the construction on the Rs150bn ($2.43 bn) project.

The state will fund the project, which is expected to boost the economy of the sate and trigger industrialisation along the way.

The expressway is expected to cut the travelling time between Lucknow-Agra New Delhi and Lucknow.

"The road will link Agra, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etawah, Auraiyya, Kannauj, Kanpur City,Unnao, Hardoi and Lucknow."

The Agra-Lucknow Expressway will be 110m-wide and will have six lanes, which can be expanded to eight depending on future requirements.

It will feature a carriageway, tolled expressway, underpasses for cattle and pedestrians, interchanges for main traffic, service roads, green belt provisions rest houses, petrol pumps and vehicle service centres.

The road will link Agra, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etawah, Auraiyya, Kannauj, Kanpur City, Unnao, Hardoi and Lucknow.

The Uttar Pradesh government has also laid foundation on two bridges; an eight-lane bridge over the Yamuna River near Mahal Badshaah village and a bridge on Delhi-Agra-Kanpur section of National Highway-2.

The bridge on the Yamuna River is being built under the Agra Inner Ring Road Project, which will cost Rs983m($15.9m) while the second bridge will have will cost Rs1.4bn ($23m).

The construction work of the expressway will be undertaken by the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) and the bridges will be constructed by the State Bridge Corporation.

UPEIDA is expected to complete the project within 22 months, which is less than the 30-month time period it proposed previously.