Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance Energy [Get Quote] and realty player DLF are among the 18 companies that have submitted initial bids for constructing the Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion) expressway which will connect Greater Noida to Ballia in Uttar Pradesh.

"Eighteen companies submitted the pre-qualification bids for the project on the last day today," sources told PTI.

Infrastructure major GMR Group and JP Associates, which has interests in cement, roads and power, are also among the bidders for the Ganga Expressway project, they said.

The project would be developed on public-private-partnership model. The state government seeks to build an eight-lane expressway connecting Greater Noida to Ballia.

The 1,047-km expressway to be built along the Ganga river would also help in preventing floods, besides ensuring high speed direct connectivity from western to eastern boundaries of the state.

Pradeshiya Industrial and Investment Corporation of UP Ltd is the the nodal agency for conducting the international competitive bidding.