Uttar Pradesh has over 60% of India’s total access-controlled expressway network.

Ganga Expressway, the longest expressway so far in Uttar Pradesh, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. The 594 kilometres long Ganga expressway is a six-lane expressway that aims to reduce the travel time between Meerut and Prayagraj to just 6 hours!Uttar Pradesh has over 60% of India’s total access-controlled expressway network. Recently, Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar pointed out that of the nearly 2,900 km of such highways across the country, close to 1,200 km are located in the state.Meerut District Magistrate and Collector Vijay Kumar Singh on Tuesday said the project has generated tremendous excitement among the public. He noted that the expressway will greatly enhance connectivity to Prayagraj as well as the state capital, Lucknow.Experts say the expressway’s length is particularly significant. According to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, road transport remains economically efficient for freight over distances of up to about 600 km, while rail becomes more viable beyond that point. At 594 km, the Ganga Expressway falls almost exactly within this crucial range for cargo movement.

How will the Ganga Expressway cut down travel time, what districts will it cover, what will be the toll policy, and what cost has it been constructed at? We take a look:

Ganga Expressway: Top Points About UP’s Longest Expressway

Travel time: One of its most noticeable benefits will be the sharp reduction in travel time. The trip between Meerut and Prayagraj, which currently takes around 10 to 12 hours, is likely to be cut to approximately 6 to 7 hours. Access from Delhi: For travellers from the Delhi-NCR region, access will be seamless through the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, followed by a short connecting link at Bijoli to join the Ganga Expressway.

Construction cost: Developed at an estimated cost of Rs 36,230 crore, the Ganga Expressway ranks among Uttar Pradesh’s most ambitious infrastructure initiatives. The Ganga Expressway stretches from Bijoli village in Meerut to Judapur Dandu village in Prayagraj.Speed limit: The expressway has been built for speeds of up to 120 kmph. The six-lane access-controlled expressway, has been designed with the provision for expansion to eight lanes.

Route & Districts covered: The expressway will pass through 12 districts: Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Sambhal, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh and Prayagraj. In doing so, it will directly influence more than 500 villages along its alignment.Interchanges & amenities: Its connectivity is further strengthened by 21 interchanges that link the corridor with existing national highways and state roads.

The project also includes major river crossings, notably a 960-metre bridge over the Ganga and a 720-metre bridge across its tributary, the Ramganga. Both structures have been engineered to suit local flood conditions.To support travellers, the expressway will also feature nine public utility complexes equipped with fuel stations, rest areas and food courts.

Emergency Landing Strip: One of the expressway’s standout features is a 3.5-km emergency landing strip in Shahjahanpur district. Already tested by the Indian Air Force, this airstrip adds a strategic defence dimension to the project, enhancing national preparedness in addition to its economic significance, according to an official statement.Integration with other expressways: Ganga Expressway will eventually be integrated with existing and even upcoming corridors. These include the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, the Farrukhabad Link Expressway, the Jewar Link Expressway, and a proposed extension that will connect Meerut to Haridwar.According to reports, plans are underway to extend the expressway by around 146 kms up to Haridwar. This extension will pass through Amroha and Bijnor and cover more than 200 villages.

Toll: The project will be operated under a toll-based public-private partnership model. Adani Enterprises and IRB Infrastructure Developers have been awarded concession rights for a period of 30 years.For toll collection, two primary toll plazas will be set up at the main entry points in Meerut and Prayagraj. The final toll charges have not yet been announced, however officials have indicated that they are likely to be in line with other expressways in Uttar Pradesh. At present, four-wheelers pay around Rs 2 to Rs 3 per kilometre.

There was a simpler time for India’s telecom space. I’m old enough to remember an era when we had as many as 12 players, across GSM and CDMA technologies. Pricing wars were an obvious result when market contours are like this. Times have changed. The select telcos that remain now focus on increasing average revenue per user. Your postpaid bills and prepaid recharge costs are rising. There are many ways to go about this, and a sophisticated illustration of the last twelve months makes it clear, that telcos are trying it all. Bundling subscriptions, a pitch of value added services and network level features they hope will stem user churn (portability means there is little consumer loyalty, and in a way, rightly so).

I’ll specifically note the headroom that tariff pricing changes give to telecom companies. Reliance Jio, for instance, is referring to something called “premium 5G”. In an earnings call last week, Anshuman Thakur, who is head of strategy at Reliance Jio Infocomm said, “On the product side, the 5G premium services with our stack, we can offer. Now, some of this is being done on a trial basis. We need to ensure that we are fully regulatory compliant, but these products are ready for the market.”

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What does this mean? 5G slicing, in a way, is to prioritise certain customers who may have subscribed to an add-on pack or service, with faster 5G services. On the same network. This isn’t new, but Jio isn’t yet offering this for consumers yet, since the regulations for prioritised services aren’t still fully in place. But that’s one strong pitch when it can be made—a better experience for those who need it, by paying extra. There’s a level of choice, though some may argue that this may deteriorate the experience for those who don’t, but there’s little proof that it will. In reality, that extra you pay allows Jio to manage and maintain a network capable of doing the “premium 5G” bit effectively.

Bharti Airtel which first made the pitch for network—level spam protection by marking incoming text messages as “suspected spam” to warn unsuspecting users against clicking on any links in that message, or replying with any personal or sensitive information. Scam methods have evolved, the latest is the traffic challan payment scam. Though I remain a Truecaller loyalist because it is a lifesaver in more ways than one, network based warning signs are helpful for a much, much larger demographic of users.

The reality now is, we’re paying more, for a lot more that we can potentially consume. Network level improvements, 5G rollout, and the cost of bundling is all factored into bill plans and recharge packs. Make no mistake, we pay for all this, not in one go, but shared across other users on the same network. I may not use the JioHotstar subscription bundled with a prepaid pack, but you perhaps do. But herein, a question becomes relevant—where’s the tariff choice for customers who don’t want any of the extra layers?

Jio’s ₹349 plan for instance, bundles a lot including unlimited 5G, the 18-month Google Gemini Pro plan with AI and 5TB of cloud storage (you must keep recharging with ₹349 or higher plans for those 18 months, mind you; a nice lock-in of sorts), a 3 month JioHotstar subscription and more. What if I just want unlimited 5G and none of the other riffraff? Little choice, except a ₹198 plan with 14-days validity, which works out more expensive over the 28-days. It is a similar story with Airtel’s prepaid plan structuring, with a ₹349 plan bundling unlimited 5G usage with 12-months Adobe Express Premium and a certain tenure of the Apple Music subscription—but no lower priced choice if someone just wants the unlimited 5G.

It has been a slow, and a very quiet death of the budget plans. Airtel once offered a ₹799 plan that provided 84 days of validity to users. As of a few days ago, that validity tenure now requires you to spend ₹899 (and along the way, it was first changed to ₹859, if I’m not mistaken). You can no longer seek value in this telecom era, whether prepaid or postpaid. Because the definition of value has changed to include things you may not want and to bundle things you may not need.

April has been the month of “cricket packs”, with Airtel and Jio trying to cash in on the IPL momentum. Both have launched data and regular recharge plans with JioHotstar subscriptions bundled. But what if someone doesn’t want that and instead watches IPL on Star Sports on linear cable or DTH? You’ll still get what you don’t need.

There is an irony in all of this. While India still has some of the most affordable data prices anywhere in the world, the value of that data has significantly reduced in the last few years. in 2016, 1GB of data would last you a week, maybe more. Now, you’re probably consuming almost as much scrolling the brain rot content on social media every night, between finishing dinner and finally falling asleep. End result is, you’ll have to pay for an unlimited 5G plan anyway. And that’s where the ‘more’ comes into play as telcos drive up the average revenue per user (ARPU) metrics.

I get their reasons for doing this. Capex costs are going up and investments are essential to scale and support volume of connectivity, spectrum costs and the very running of the business, all factored in. You’ve no choice but to keep paying. But remember, the house always wins in the end. This time, the house is the telco with 5G towers and a JioHotstar logo on it.

Vishal Mathur is the Technology Editor at HT. Tech Tonic is a weekly column that looks at the impact of personal technology on the way we live, and vice versa. The views expressed are personal.

Health Canada has approved the first generic version of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic made by Indian drugmaker Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, its website showed on Tuesday.

Several drugmakers have been developing lower-cost versions of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic, driving down monthly prices for some users.

In March, India became the first major market to introduce copycat versions of semaglutide following the expiry of certain patent protections, prompting Novo Nordisk to cut prices for Ozempic and its obesity drug Wegovy in the country.

“Investors will follow the evolution of the market in Canada closely as a test case to see if and how generics can compete with branded peptides.” said BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman.

Swiss generic drugmaker Sandoz has said it plans to launch has said it plans to launch a generic version of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic in Canada by June this year, positioning itself among the first wave of companies seeking to market copycat versions of the blockbuster GLP-1 therapy. The company said in November that it expected to be an early entrant in the space.

Novo Nordisk is meanwhile facing mounting sales pressure as rival Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound, continue to gain market share, eroding the Danish drugmaker’s early first-mover advantage in the GLP-1 market.

Canadian generic entry is likely to remain a localized headwind, Seigerman said, adding that strong U.S. intellectual property protections should prevent meaningful spillover, even as Ozempic faces growing competition from drugs such as Mounjaro.

Health Canada said it is reviewing eight other applications for generic semaglutide from different companies and expects to make more decisions in the coming weeks and months.

In Canada, many generic medications are 45% to 90% cheaper than the brand-name versions.

Dr Reddy’s and Novo Nordisk did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.