Prayagraj Industrial Smart City (Prayagraj IMC): Connectivity Guide

Where the site sits

The Integrated Manufacturing Cluster (IMC) at Saraswati Hi-Tech City, located 25 km south of Prayagraj, spans 352 acres with an investment potential of ₹1,600 crore. NICDC describes prime connectivity to NH-35, NH-30, rail/EDFC, airports, and waterways, with proximity to Prayagraj Airport (24 km) and the New Karchana EDFC Station (7 km). The project is one of two Uttar Pradesh nodes — alongside Agra — designed to become engines of industrial and economic growth under the Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor.

Air connectivity

Prayagraj Airport (IATA: IXD), also known as Allahabad Airport, is a major domestic airport and an Indian Air Force base, spreading over approximately 800 acres. It is currently under joint operation of the Indian Air Force and the Airports Authority of India.

Status: operational (domestic only), as of 2026. The airport is served by a single runway 12/30, 2,560 metres long, and is ILS CAT-I compliant for night, bad weather and foggy conditions. The airport became among the top 20 busiest in India in FY2024-25, with passenger traffic exceeding 1 million for the first time. In 2025 the airport operated around 30 flights per week, providing direct connectivity to six destinations across India.

Prayagraj Airport is included in India's UDAN regional connectivity scheme to enhance low-cost air travel. International operations remain only under discussion, with talk of eventual Gulf and Southeast Asia routes, but no confirmed date. Ahead of Magh Mela 2026, the airport announced plans to expand air services to handle expected pilgrim and tourist traffic. For the IMC site, this airport is the nearest air link at roughly 24 km, per NICDC's own project page.

Expressways and national highways

Ganga Expressway — operational (Phase 1), Phase 2 under pre-construction/planning. It is a 594-kilometre, six-lane access-controlled greenfield expressway in Uttar Pradesh, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 29 April 2026. It connects Meerut to Prayagraj, cutting travel time between the two cities from 12–13 hours to approximately 6–7 hours. The eastward extension is not yet built: Spur-2 (Prayagraj–Ballia) remains in pre-construction, with surveys completed by UPEIDA in 2024 and preparatory work ongoing as of August 2025.

NH-19 (Prayagraj–Varanasi) — recently upgraded, operational. The 73-km long Prayagraj, Handia–Rajatalab section of NH-19 serves as a six-lane corridor and the primary eastern gateway to Varanasi, transforming a historically congested stretch into a high-speed journey.

NH-35 and NH-30 — operational, cited by NICDC as the IMC's direct highway links for the Saraswati Hi-Tech City site, though the agency's own project page does not give further upgrade timelines for these specific stretches.

Rail and dedicated freight corridor (EDFC)

Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor — operational through the Prayagraj stretch. The Eastern DFC runs between Ludhiana in Punjab and Dankuni near Kolkata via Meerut and Kanpur, passing through Prayagraj and Chandauli among other districts. Proposed junctions on the line include Manauri and Karchhana near Prayagraj. Built by Alstom at Prayagraj, the Operation Control Centre (OCC) houses the command and control centre monitoring all trains and power supply on the corridor, staffed by 150 people across a 4.2-acre facility. This is the same New Karchana/EDFC link NICDC cites as 7 km from the IMC site.

Prayagraj Junction (PRYJ) — passenger hub, under redevelopment. By 2023, remodelling had expanded the station to 12 platforms with two mega concourses, and a new electronic interlocking system was commissioned in November 2024. The ongoing second phase of redevelopment, initiated in May 2024 with a budget of Rs 960 crore, targets full modernisation by December 2026, including airport-like amenities. As of early April 2026, city-side construction was scheduled to begin from 15 April 2026, with associated parking restrictions.

Internal and city road network: Prayagraj Ring Road

Status: mixed — Phase 1 land acquisition under way; Phase 2 DPR cleared, construction not started, as of February 2026. The Prayagraj Ring Road is a 71.5-km (Phase 1: 29.8 km + Phase 2: 41.662 km), Rs 7,048 crore NHAI project, with Phase 1 running 29.8 km from Sahson on NH-19 to Dandupur on Rewa Road and land acquisition from around 5,000 farmers across 194 hectares already under way. Phase 1 construction progress had not been independently confirmed as of May 2026, and the original two-year target from 2023 has passed.

NHAI is advancing the four-lane second phase, covering 41.662 km from Madhopur near NH-19 in Soraon tehsil to Amiliya in Karchana tehsil through 41 villages, with a 3.5 km bridge over the Ganga, a 1.2 km bridge over the Yamuna, four flyovers, three railway overbridges and 120 small culverts. Officials indicated land acquisition for Phase 2 is likely to begin within six months of the February 2026 clearance, following ground-level surveys.

Metro and mass transit proposals

Status: proposed only — no construction start date, as of April 2026. The Prayagraj Metro, formerly Prayagraj Metrolite, is a proposed rapid transit system for the city. The project has now been shifted from a light metro (Metrolite) to a full-scale metro system, after authorities concluded a conventional metro would be more financially viable given domestically manufactured coaches. The revised plan raises the station count from 39 to 45 with a total cost expected to exceed Rs 12,000 crore, across two corridors: an extended ~39 km Bamrauli–Jhunsi line (26 stations in the first phase) incorporating the airport and Sangam-area ropeway connectivity, and a ~21 km Shantipuram–Chheoki line (19 stations).

The network is designed to connect Phaphamau in the north, Jhunsi in the east, Naini in the south, and Prayagraj Junction along with the airport in the west. Parts of the corridor pass through defence land, and clearances will be sought through the Defence Ministry's LMS portal before the DPR is finalised. There is no RRTS (Regional Rapid Transit System) proposal for Prayagraj; RRTS in Uttar Pradesh is currently limited to the NCR-linked Delhi–Meerut corridor, which is unrelated to this region.

Waterways and ports

Prayagraj sits on the Ganga–Yamuna confluence, part of National Waterway-1 (Ganga), and NICDC lists proximity to waterways as one of the site's connectivity advantages. No dedicated cargo port, jetty or multi-modal terminal tied specifically to the IMC site has been identified in current NICDC or government material; Prayagraj is not a seaport city, and any inland-waterway cargo movement would be general-purpose Ganga navigation rather than an IMC-dedicated facility.