Gorakhpur-Siliguri Expressway

Gorakhpur-Siliguri Expressway (GS Expressway) is a 519 km greenfield six-lane access-controlled corridor under construction from Gorakhpur in eastern UP to Siliguri in West Bengal, traversing Bihar's Champaran-Madhubani-Darbhanga belt. Sanctioned in 2022 and construction begun in 2024, the expressway is targeted for opening by 2028.

The project's strategic significance: it relieves the chronically congested NH-27 (Gorakhpur-Siliguri main highway, the Indian gateway to the Northeast) and provides a direct continuous expressway from the eastern UP heartland to the Northeast strategic corridor (Siliguri Corridor / Chicken's Neck). This improves all-weather logistics for the Northeast region — particularly important for army supply to Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

NHAI is executing the project as a single contiguous expressway across UP + Bihar + WB through 7 packages totalling ₹32,000 crore. Funding split: 70% Government of India + 30% concession-based BoT recovery.

Design features: 6-lane (3+3) configuration, design speed 120 km/h, 12 toll plazas, integrated rest areas every 60 km, dedicated truck-only lanes in critical segments, and 8 wildlife crossings through the Champaran tiger reserve corridor.