Odisha, Jan. 24 -- By Sumit Kumar Singh

Lucknow: Combat aircraft, including the top-of-the-line Rafale or Sukhoi, will soon be able to land and take off from an airstrip being developed on the 340-km long Purvanchal Expressway in Uttar Pradesh.

The government is developing a stretch of 3.2 kilometres near Sultanpur district on the Expressway where combat aircraft can land and take off.

"The stretch is being developed in such a manner that any combat aircraft can land and take off. It is part of the Expressway and we are in regular talks with the Indian Air Force," Awanish Kumar Awasthi, Additional Chief Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh government, said.

Awasthi, the 1987-batch officer, is looking after expressway projects in the state....