Moradabad-Aligarh Expressway: Route, Status, Opening Date and What It Means for Land Buyers

The Moradabad-Aligarh Expressway is a planned four-lane, access-controlled highway of roughly 150 km that NHAI is building in western Uttar Pradesh. It is meant to cut a three-to-four-hour drive to about 90 minutes. Right now it is in the land acquisition stage, there is no official opening date, and registry restrictions are already in force in notified villages. For anyone thinking of buying land near the route, that last point matters more than the travel time.

Moradabad-Aligarh Expressway at a glance

Route and connectivity

The zero point is at Gajgola Nanakbari village, near the CNG station before Pakbara on NH-24. From there the road runs south through Amroha, Sambhal and Bulandshahr and ends at a grade-separated interchange on the Aligarh Ring Road, which is itself still under construction. Today the trip runs through Chandausi, Babrala and Dibai on the old NH-509 corridor. The new alignment reportedly skips Chandausi and uses the Anoopshahr Bypass. 

Access will be tightly controlled. Vehicles can enter and leave only at designated interchanges, and two- and three-wheelers won’t be allowed. Underpasses, elevated bypasses and pedestrian bridges are planned. The corridor should also link to other roads. Reports mention the Ganga Expressway through a Badaun link, and the Agra-Aligarh four-lane project. 

One caution on the description. Some reports call it an upgrade of an existing two-lane corridor, while others call it a greenfield highway on a fresh alignment. The village-by-village acquisition suggests new land is needed, but check NHAI’s notifications for the final alignment. 

Where the project stands

Land is being acquired under Sections 3A and 3D of the National Highways Act, 1956. The reported breakdown is 22 villages in Moradabad (about 190 hectares), 69 in Sambhal, one village in Amroha and 45 in Aligarh’s Gabhana and Koil tehsils, 137 in all. That doesn’t match the roughly 129 villages some guides quote, so treat village counts as provisional until the final notifications are published.

Compensation is to be paid directly into landowners’ bank accounts. On the construction side, a Rs 12.5 crore tender for a major bridge was issued in June 2026. I found no reports of main construction packages being awarded. 

When will it open?

There is no official opening date. Some guides suggest 2028, but the sources I checked attach that year to a different project. The first 28-km package of the Agra-Aligarh four-lane highway is scheduled for completion by 2028. Until land is acquired and construction contracts are awarded, any date for the Moradabad-Aligarh stretch is a guess. Expect sections to open at different times, not one ribbon-cutting. 

The land registry freeze: what buyers must know

This is the gap in most explainers. After NHAI issued a 3A notification covering 10 villages in Aligarh, buying and selling, registry, mutation and partition of land there was barred with immediate effect, until acquisition is complete. Moradabad authorities have also restricted sales and new registrations in areas expected to fall within the acquisition zone. 

In practice:

• Land inside the alignment can’t be sold, registered or divided while the freeze lasts.
• A plot next to the alignment may be fine, but only if your Khasra number is outside the notified list.
• Paying an advance on a plot that turns out to be notified is the main risk.

Before you pay anything, take these steps:

1. Ask the seller for the plot’s Khasra number and match it against the 3A and 3D notifications for that village.
2. Check the owner’s Khatauni and any recent mutation on UP Bhulekh (upbhulekh.gov.in). 
3. Confirm the registry status at the local tehsil office, because restrictions are being extended as new villages are notified.
4. If farmland is being sold as residential plots, ask for the SDM’s land-use order under Section 80 of the UP Revenue Code, 2006.

What it could mean for property

Expressways tend to lift land values at interchanges and city edges. The likely candidates here are the northern end around Pakbara and New Moradabad, and the Gabhana and Ramghat Road belt near Aligarh’s Ring Road. Be careful with growth figures. One broker blog projects 18–30 per cent gains over three years, but describes them as market projections, not guaranteed returns. That is analysis, not data, and it can’t account for delays. 

Two realities temper the optimism. The Aligarh Ring Road interchange is itself unfinished, and the land closest to the road can’t be traded until acquisition ends. Gains, if they come, are more likely to reach adjoining land than the notified strip, and they depend on construction actually starting.

The bottom line

The Moradabad-Aligarh Expressway is a real project: NHAI has issued notifications and is acquiring land. But it’s early. Treat 90 minutes as the target, not a date. If you’re buying near the route, verify the Khasra number against the notifications before paying a rupee.