PWD spends record Rs 28,087 crore on bridges, roads, other infra upgrade across state last fiscal

Lucknow: The Public Works Department (PWD) has set a new benchmark of spending 86% of the budget allocation for the last fiscal year.The department managed to spend more than Rs 28,087 crore out of the total allocation of Rs 32,676 crore for the year.“The 86% spending has been achieved for the first time,” said an official, stressing the focus was on upgrading the infrastructure.Raising the bar further, the department managed to augment the road network substantially between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026.A major portion of the funds (Rs 6,877 crore) was utilised on building bridges over railway crossings, major traffic junctions, bridges and waterbodies across the state.At present, the work is underway to complete 277 bridges that are in various stages of construction across the state.In fact, to bring down the commute time between the towns situated in eastern UP, Bundelkhand, central UP, among other areas, a budget of Rs 4,520 crore was set aside to construct at least two-lane-wide bridges over the rivers last year.In comparison, during the 2024-25 FY, the spending of UPPWD amounted to Rs 23,850 crore, out of which only Rs 1,129 crore was spent on the bridges.Principal secretary of the department, Ajay Chauhan, said the credit for achieving the milestones goes to the development-oriented policy framework that was evolved by state govt, financial discipline and efforts of the engineering and other staff members.Uttar Pradesh has a total road network spanning close to 2.84 lakh kilometres (including national highways totalling up to 7,735 km). As a result, field officials had to infuse Rs 7,650 crore for the maintenance, restoration and repair works.To maintain the quality of the work being done and ascertain the characteristics of the material being used in the construction of roads, buildings, bridges and civil projects, PWD officials collected 2,723 samples while making field inspections.