January 10, 2024: The government is planning to make the Delhi-Surat section of the Delhi-Mumbai expressway operational by March 2024, according to media reports. Two additional stretches of over 300 kilometre (km) are nearing completion.
As per information from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, a nearly finished 100-kilometer stretch between Vadodara and Ankleshwar is scheduled for inauguration. Additionally, a 205-kilometer segment connecting Lalsot to Jhalawar is close to completion. Within the Lalsot to Rajasthan-Madhya Pradesh border stretch, progress is at 100% for two out of nine packages, covering a distance of 79 kilometers. Moreover, on a 66-kilometer section, over 90% of the work has been completed, and on another 60 kilometers, more than 80% of the work has been accomplished, as reported by News18.
Two of the sections of this stretch are critical and the progress is little slow on the 35 km part. Of these two, one is 26 km-long, where 75% work has been completed and another is eight km-long, where 45% of work has been completed.
Delhi-Mumbai expressway project status
Around 67% of work has been completed on the 920 km section of the 1,386-km Delhi-Mumbai expressway as of December 2023. As per media reports, the ministry plans to open sections that are ready, with four packages between Vadodara and Ankleswar expected to be operational in the coming weeks. The entire Delhi-Mumbai section is expected to be open for traffic movement by December 2024, while the Mumbai to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust segment is scheduled for completion in 2025.
Of the 1,386-km Delhi-Mumbai expressway, the highest share is in Gujarat at 432 km and work on 186 km is complete. Another major portion is in Rajasthan, spanning 374 km where work on 350 km has been completed. In Madhya Pradesh, 244 km out of 245 km is almost completed. In Delhi, 3.5 km of the nine km-long project work has been completed. In Haryana, work on 117 km out of 130 km length has been completed, as mentioned in a News18 report.
The Delhi-Mumbai expressway project is being developed at Rs one lakh crore. It is expected to reduce travel time between the two major cities from around 24 hours to 12 hours and reduce the distance by 130 km. Moreover, the expressway is set to boost connectivity to major economic hubs along the route in Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Kishangarh, Ajmer, Kota, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Bhopal, Ujjain, Indore, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat. Further, according to the ministry, the expressway will generate annual fuel savings of more than 320 million litres and reduce CO2 emissions by 850 million kg, equivalent to planting 40 million trees.
Also Read: List of the Top 10 Upcoming Expressways in India.
