The longest expressway in India, between Delhi and Mumbai to open by March 2023; Here are the details
TO reduce travel time between certain cities in India from 24 hours 12-12.5 hours (almost half), an eight-lane expressway passing through Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat is setting up in the country.
The 1,380 km long Delhi Mumbai Expressway (DME) is the country’s longest expressway and is scheduled to be ready by March 2023. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari reviewed the progress of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. He concluded that with the completion of the expressway, travel time might get reduced to half earlier. “Delhi-Katra expressway will be launched in two years, to reduce the distance from 727 to 572 kilometers, you will reach Katra from Delhi in six hours. We are also working on new roads from Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Dehradun, and Delhi-Haridwar, to take you there in two hours,” Nithin Gadkari said.
The project is being developed at Rs 98,000 crore and was kick-started in the year 2018 with the foundation stone being laid on 9 March 2019.
The first phase, which is from Delhi to Jaipur (Dausa)-Lalsot and Vadodara to Ankleshwar is expected to be open to the public by March 2022. The expressway will connect urban centers of the national capital through the corridor’s Delhi-Faridabad-Sohna section along with a motive to the upcoming Noida International Airport in Jewar and Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Mumbai.
Contracts have been awarded for more than 1,200 km out of the 1,380 km, where work is under progress. Along with this, over 15,000 hectares of land have been acquired across states for the construction of the expressway. In addition, the expressway which passes via Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, MP, Gujarat, and Maharashtra, will improve the connectivity to economic hubs such as Jaipur, Ajmer, Kishangarh, Kota, Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara bringing economic prosperity to millions.
The annual fuel savings is expected to generate is more than 320 million liters. One of the main benefits includes the reduction in CO2 emissions by 850 million Kg. The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is the first in Asia. Moreover, it is only the second in the world to feature animal overpasses to facilitate unrestricted movement of wildlife.
