Delhi-Mumbai expressway: Everything you need to know about one of India’s largest infrastructure projects

The construction of India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ flagship project, the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is underway. OnSaturday (January 21), the Union Minister for Road Transport and National Highways, Nitin Gadkari, took to Twitter and shared images of a section of the 1,386 km (861 miles)-long roadway. Once completed it will connect the country’s national capital and its financial capital reducing the total travel time to a mere 12 hours. The project which began in 2018 with the foundation laid in March 2019, should be almost completed by December, later this year, Gadkari announced in 2022.

India’s largest expressway: Connectivity and cost

The eight-lane Delhi-Mumbai highway is poised to become the largest expressway in the country and one of the fastest-built expressways in the world connecting major cities and states across India. In addition to the two capitals, the expressway will also connect five states, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.

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The over 1,300 km highway will also pass through the country’s economic hubs like Jaipur, Kishangarh, Ajmer, Kota, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Bhopal, Ujjain, Indore, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat. The soon-to-be-inaugurated roadway will start from DND flyway, Delhi and Sohna, Haryana and end at Virar, Maharashtra, and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Mumbai.

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The total cost of constructing the ambitious expressway is more than Rs 1 lakh crore (approximately US$12 billion) and it will reportedly use 80 lakh tons of cement and 10 lakh tons of steel. The 1,368 km expressway’s eight lanes can also be expanded into 12 lanes depending on the requirement, while the entire roadway is divided into four sections, DND-Faridabad-KMP Route (Delhi-Haryana), Sohna–KMP–Vadodara Route (Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat), Vadodara–Virar Route (Gujarat and Maharashtra), and Virar–JNPT Route (Maharashtra)

Delhi-Mumbai expressway: Here are some of the key features

Along with a number of amenities including hotels, gas stations, food hubs, retail shops, and so on, the expressway will also include charging stations and a separate lane for electric vehicles. Additionally, reports suggest that the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will include a heliport for emergency evacuations and a first-of-its-kind trauma centre in case of accidents.

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Furthermore, the expressway is expected to cut at least 850 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions and save more than 300 million litres of fuel every year. It will also have multiple animal overpasses making it the first in Asia and second in the world to include such a feature for the uninterrupted movement of wildlife. According to the ministry, over two million trees and shrubs will also be planted along the highway.

The expressway includes two iconic eight-lane tunnels one of which will pass through the Mukundra sanctuary in the Indian state of Rajasthan, while the other four kilometres will be tunnelling through an eco-sensitive zone in Maharashtra’s Matheran. Notably, the highway has also created tens of thousands of jobs for daily workers as well as trained civil engineers.

Recent developments

Last week, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said that they will implement the Advance Traffic Management System (ATMS) on national highways and expressways which will include enforcement of speed limits and other regulations for better managing road accidents. Reportedly, the maximum speed on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will be 120 km per hour.

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The NHAI, on January 16, also said that they are looking to leverage GIS technology for analysing drone videos and Network Survey Vehicle data for identifying safety issues on highways. ATMS is also being installed on projects under implementation such as Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, in addition to already being implemented for around 3,000 kilometres of national highways, said the NHAI.

(With inputs from agencies)

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