Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, India’s longest expressway project, linking Delhi and Mumbai, has been delayed a lot, mainly due to problems in land acquisition in Gujarat.
The plan aims to connect Mumbai directly with the national capital, connecting several economic hubs in Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat.
The greenfield expressway, which is eight-lane and 1,386 km long, is designed to reduce travel time between Delhi and Mumbai by five times, with the target being a 12-hour journey.
Currently, about 630 km of the expressway is open for traffic in various stretches. The crucial sections completed are the Sohna-Dausa-Sawai Madhopur (293 km) and the Jhalawar-MP/Gujarat border (245 km).
Officials estimate that the 845-km stretch from Sohna to Vadodara will be fully operational by March 2025. After this, additional stretches connecting Mumbai’s JNPT port, Uttar Pradesh’s Jewar airport, and Delhi’s DND flyway are also expected.
According to a report in the Economic Times, the bidding process for two crucial sections in Gujarat began only in November 2023. These sections are 62 km long. Construction of one section began in April this month, while the other began this month.
The project, initially scheduled to be completed by January 2023, got stuck several times, pushing the revised target to March 2024, but that too could not be completed.
Each section of the expressway will take at least eighteen months to build. The project was divided into smaller “packages” to speed up its progress. Officials said all pending land acquisition issues are being actively resolved.
The slow pace in Gujarat remains a cause of concern, though Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have improved significantly. With work now starting in all packages, officials expect the entire expressway to be operational by October next year.
The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway aims to improve access to economic hubs such as Jaipur, Kishangarh, Ajmer, Kota, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Bhopal, Ujjain, Indore, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat, besides connecting Delhi and Mumbai.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first part of the project at Sohna (Haryana) and Dausa (Rajasthan) on 12 February 2023 and operationalized it.
93 PM Gati Shakti economic nodes, 13 ports, eight major airports, and eight multi-modal logistics parks are set to benefit from this mega infrastructure project.
It will also give easy access to upcoming greenfield airports, such as Jewar airport, Navi Mumbai airport, and JNPT port.