Delhi-Mumbai greenfield Expressway work in full swing, to be ready by March 2022

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is planning to complete the 1,350 km Delhi-Mumbai greenfield expressway by March 2022, according to a report released on Wednesday, December 16. Besides, the government is also working on two more greenfield expressways — the 300 km Ambala-Kotputli and 1,000 km Amritsar-Jamnagar.

The report also stated that the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is being built at a cost of ₹1 lakh crore. While  the work on all the three projects has gained momentum, after facing a COVID induced slowdown.

The third greenfield expressway between Amritsar and Jamnagar, entailing an investment of ₹25,000 crore, will be completed by March 2023. While the target for the completion of Ambala-Kotlipur expressway is also March 22.

According to reports, the entire 1,350 km stretch Delhi-Mumbai expressway project has been divided into 44 packages and so far 38 have been awarded. However, for Ambala-Kotputli, all the 10 packages have been awarded and also 26 of the 33 on Amritsar-Jamnagar stretch have been awarded, according to the report. Meanwhile, the remaining packages will be awarded in January, 2021, said an official of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

Ministry officials said the Delhi-Mumbai expressway is likely to be completed first as the majority of the land acquisition for the Delhi-Mumbai expressway project has been completed, said ministry official.

The official also stated that once the project would be completed, they would give a big fillip to the economy in the region. Moreover, all the three expressways will be access controlled and be a part of an economic corridor. The three expressways are part of the highways ministry’s ambitious plan to build 22 greenfield expressways at a cost of ₹3.10 lakh crore.

Apart from these, many flagship corridors such as Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway, Anantapur-Amaravati Expressway and others are being developed as a part of Bharatmala Pariyojana. About 35,000 km of national highways are being developed as a part of Bharatmala Pariyojana in the country.