More than 1,150 kilometers of the ambitious 1,386-km Delhi-Mumbai Expressway—India’s longest under-construction greenfield expressway—has been completed, with 756 kilometers now open to traffic, the government informed Parliament on Wednesday, 2 April.
In a written response to a query in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari stated that, as of February 2025, construction on 1,156 km of the expressway had been finished across various states.
Of that, 756 km has been operationalised, he noted.
The minister acknowledged that the project initially faced bottlenecks due to contractor delays, force majeure clauses, and land acquisition hurdles. However, he assured the House that all necessary measures are being undertaken to expedite the remaining construction.
A report by News18 revealed significant holdups across five segments covering a 140-km stretch between Surat and the Gujarat-Maharashtra border, contributing to a revised timeline.
Last year, Minister Gadkari had pledged that the entire expressway would be functional by October 2025. Recent developments, however, suggest a more complex picture.
The stretch from Vadodara to Surat, divided into five construction packages, has seen inconsistent progress. On the final 25-km leg, nearly half the work is done. But elsewhere, progress lags. Between Surat and the Maharashtra border, all but one of the five packages are struggling. Two segments, totaling 60 km, have seen less than 10% completion. A 25-km section has advanced just under 30%, while a separate 30-km segment has reached roughly 50%.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh has completed its 250-km section, which is already in operation.
Estimated at over ₹1 lakh crore, the expressway is a linchpin in India’s infrastructure network, set to link major economic zones across Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.
The expressway is split into two main corridors: an 845-km stretch from Delhi to Vadodara, and a 450-km link from Vadodara to Mumbai. The Delhi-Vadodara segment was originally expected to be complete by March, while the Vadodara-Mumbai leg was scheduled for October 2025.
Additionally, a 90-km section connecting DND Flyway, Sohna, and Jewar is projected to be ready by July 2025.
Currently, the heavily congested NH-48 serves as the primary artery between Delhi and Mumbai, stretching 1,440 km. Once the expressway is complete, it will trim the distance between Delhi and Navi Mumbai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) by approximately 180 km, cutting travel time nearly in half.
