Delhi-Mumbai Expressway Construction To Begin In December; Travel Time To Come Down To Just 12 Hours

The new expressway connecting the two major cities of Indiawill cut travel time by half. Currently, the average time taken for cars is around 24 hours. This is set to be reduced to just 12 hours after the expressway becomes operational. Gadkari also stated that the construction work will start simultaneously in over 40 different locations.

Nitin Gadkari stated, "We will begin the work on the Rs 1 trillion Delhi-Mumbai expressway from end-December and it will be completed within 30-36 months. Money is not a problem at all. NHAI can raise plenty of cheap money from the market."

According to the original proposal of the ministry, the new Delhi-Mumbai expressway was set to run in parallel to the existing National Highway-8. However, the plan was later changed, due to the high land acquisition cost involved.

As per the new route, the expressway will start from Gurugram, moving east towards, Alwar, Jhabua and Ratlam (western Madhya Pradesh) and Baroda (Gujarat). The route followed by the new expressway: Delhi-Gurugram-Mewat-Kota-Ratlam-Godhra-Vadodara-Surat-Dahisar and finally Mumbai.

The reports also statethat the government saved Rs 16,000 crore over land acquisition cost. As per the original route, an acre of land was priced at Rs 7 crore. However, the new route has reduced these prices to Rs 80 lakh. Although, the overall land acquisition cost for the total project itself cost Rs 6,000 crore.

Thoughts On The New Delhi-Mumbai Expressway

According to the ministry, the main objective of the new massive Delhi-Mumbai expressway project is to decongest the traffic flow in and out of Delhi-NCR. The expressway will help truck traffic pass through the outskirts, rather than entering the city. The new expressway will also help decongest the national highway, which currently is used by around three lakh vehicles on a daily basis.