PM Modi to inaugurate maiden stretch of Delhi-Mumbai expressway today; details here

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to inaugurate the first stretch of the Delhi-Mumbai expressway, joining the national capital with Rajasthan’s capital Jaipur, on Sunday (February 12).

The new stretch, which will join Sohna in Haryana with Dausa in Rajasthan, will reduce the travel time from Delhi to Jaipur from five hours to around three and a half hours.

The Delhi-Dausa-Lalsot section only stretches for 246 km, while the entire length of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is 1,380 km.

Developed at a cost of more than ₹12,150 crore, this first completed section of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will provide a major boost to the economic development of the entire region, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.

The expressway between Sohna and Dausa will pass through 11 villages in Gurugram, seven villages in Palwal and 47 villages in Nuh district.

The highway is an eight-lane access-controlled expressway which can be expanded to 12 lanes in the time of need to regulate traffic.

Modi will also launch road development projects worth more than ₹18,100 crore from Dausa.

The PMO said Modi’s emphasis on the building of excellent road infrastructure as an engine of growth, development and connectivity in “New India” is being realised by the construction of a number of ongoing world class expressways across the country.

Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, India’s longest road

The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will be the India’s longest with the length of 1,386 km. It will reduce travel distance between Delhi and Mumbai by 12 per cent, from 1,424 km to 1,242 km, while the travel time will be cut by 50 per cent, from the current 24 hours to 12 hours, it said.

The expressway will pass through Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra and connect major cities like Kota, Indore, Jaipur, Bhopal, Vadodara and Surat.

देश के प्रमुख शहरों को 40 इंटरचेंज की मदद से जोड़ेगा #दिल्ली_मुंबई_एक्सप्रेस_वे!#BuildingTheNation #Delhi_Mumbai_Expressway #PragatiKaHighway #GatiShakti pic.twitter.com/eKwTsXwStm

— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) February 11, 2023

It will also serve 93 PM Gati Shakti Economic Nodes, 13 ports, eight major airports and eight multi-modal logistics parks (MMLPs) along with spurs to new upcoming greenfield airports such as Jewar Airport, Navi Mumbai Airport and JNPT port.

It will have a catalytic impact in the developmental trajectory of all adjoining regions, thus contributing in a major way in the economic transformation of the country, the PMO said.

In a recent post on Twitter, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, said the expressway will require around 12 lakh tons of steel, “equivalent to 50 Howrah bridges” and will generate 10 crore man-days of employment in the country.

During the programme, Modi will also lay the foundation stone of 247 km of national highway projects to be developed at a cost of more than ₹5,940 crore.