Centre to launch Rs 5,300 crore road projects in Ayodhya ahead of polls

The Union government was set to begin construction projects in Ayodhya worth Rs 5,300 crore on Friday, shortly before the announcement of the Lok Sabha election dates and at a time when the Ram temple issue was a subject of national debate. The projects had first been planned in 2015.

What is planned

According to sources, the projects included about half a dozen highway and infrastructure works in Ayodhya. Among them were improvements to the 84 Kosi Parikrama Marg and the Ram Van Gaman Marg, both routes of religious importance to visitors to the city in Uttar Pradesh.

Union Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were to lay the foundation stones.

The two key routes

• 84 Kosi Parikrama Marg: The route is 250 km long. Highway ministry officials said that in the first phase about 91 km would be widened to four lanes at a cost of Rs 896 crore, and the road would be developed as a national highway. Large numbers of devotees use it to circle the city.
• Ram Van Gaman Marg: About 48 km of the Ayodhya-Chitrakoot stretch is to be built. The road links the area with Janakpur in Nepal. According to the epic, Ram and Sita travelled this way from Janakpur to Ayodhya after their marriage.

What happened next

The Supreme Court delivered its Ayodhya judgment on 9 November 2019, and the Ram temple in Ayodhya was consecrated on 22 January 2024. In the Lok Sabha election held between 11 April and 19 May 2019, the BJP won 303 of 543 seats.

See also: Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha members

Originally published on 6 February 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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