Union road transport and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the centre wants to make the river Ganga a growth engine for the areas where it flows from.<br/><br/>Addressing a press conference in Lucknow on Tuesday, Mr. Gadkari said that national river Ganga is being developed as a main hub of water transport in the country with an approximate cost of Rs. 3,000 crore.<br/><br/>?All efforts are also being made to restore the purity and its perpetual flow, he said. In a stretch of 1,620 KMs between Haldia and Varanasi, three multi-modal hubs will be developed along with thirty water ports and twenty five small terminus in route of Ganga Water Way, minister said.<br/><br/>He also said that RORO (Roll-on Roll-off) service will also be launched on this waterway in which fifty to sixty goods laden trucks will be carried on barges and ships making goods transportation more cost effective.<br/><br/>AIR correspondent reports that speaking about roads of Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Gadkari said that as of now projects of nearly Rs. 51,500 crore are either going on or soon will be initiated in the state.<br/><br/>He said that by this year end, work on Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway having eight lanes, will begin which will cost over Rs. ten thousand crore.<br/><br/>He said that the centre has sanctioned around Rs. six thousand crore for the betterment or facelifting of the old highways in Uttar Pradesh.<br/><br/>An outer ring road with a cost of over Rs. ten thousand crore will soon be initiated in Lucknow as land acquisition work is in progress, he said.<br/><br/>Speaking about national highways, he said that the total length of the highways and Expressways in the country will be enhanced from current 96,000 kms to two lakh kms. Five water bodies have been chosen across the country to be developed as national water ways comprising river Ganga, Bramhaputra, Mahanadi, Buckingham Canal and Back waters of Kerala, he said.