Delhi Mumbai Expressway

With the primary intention of connecting two major economic hubs of India, the government has imposed the plan of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. Much to the knowledge of the common public, it is the 1,350-km controlled and 8-lane wide access highway that connects the country’s national capital New Delhi with the financial capital Mumbai. 

In spite of the hurdles due to the worldwide pandemic, on Tuesday, Nitin Gadkari (Union Minister) provided additional details about this forthcoming Expressway. In his speech, he has confirmed the project to most likely get completed on time. The core objective of building this Expressway is to cut down the time of travelling between these two cities from 24 to 12 hours.

Land for the extra four lanes must be reserved in the road’s middle for future expansions, alongside the space for plantation, public transport, and utilities on both sides. Once the Expressway gets completed, it is going to shorten the time period of travelling between these two mega metro cities. Incidentally, it is expected to create better connectivity with the cities on the route.

Along with Western DFC or Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, the Expressway is expected to become Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor’s fundamental backbone. The project’s foundation stone got laid on March 8, 2019, by Nitin Gadkari, the union minister in attendance of Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj.

The Expressway’s inauguration got scheduled for 2023 (apparently, January 26). This eight-lane highway is believed to pass through 5 major states alongside a multitude of greenfield sites to get developed warehousing hubs. The under-construction Mumbai- Vadodara Expressway has got subsumed in the project. On this note, here’s all about the Delhi Mumbai expressway.

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Facts About the Route of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway

As per the project value, the total figure, including its land acquisition cost, happens to be around ₹90,000 crores. The Expressway is also believed to pass through major cities such as Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh. The following are the states and their routes mentioned in a tabulated format.

Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will connect the DND Flyway in Delhi to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Maharashtra. The Expressway will run parallel to the route of Alwar-Delhi in Haryana and exit the Kolgaon state. In Rajasthan, the Expressway will pass through Malakhera, Bharatpur, Jaipur, Rajgarh, Indragarh, Kota, Rawatbhata, and Sawai Madhopur. In Madhya Pradesh, it will cross Garoth, Bhanpura, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Ratlam, Thandla, and Jaora. In Maharashtra, it is expected to pass through Palghar and Thane. 

Outlining the Sustainable Infrastructure of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway

As the forthcoming Expressway is scheduled for a 2023 launch, it’s expected to have incredible transportation functionalities. To go by the reports, this Expressway is presumed to be the longest greenfield expressway to have the country’s first animal overpasses or animal bridges.

These will get designed to keep India’s wildlife section unaffected from the upcoming infrastructure. A total of five animal overpasses are supposed to be built alongside a combined length comprising 2.5 km. It will pass through Mukundra wildlife sanctuaries and the Ranthambore wildlife corridor in Rajasthan.

Expected Timeline for Delhi-Mumbai Expressway

As per the details about Delhi Mumbai expressway, the following are the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway timelines scheduled accordingly:

• January 2019: Land acquisition for the Haryana stretch got completed. Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan are yet to acquire the land.

• March 2019: The foundation stone was laid by the union minister (Nitin Gadkari). Around 148 km of work got awarded, and the rest is expected to get rewarded over a total of six months.

• September 2019: The civil work has begun, with the deadline for this project set for 2020.

• February 2020: The deadline got postponed to January 26 in 2023.

• June 2020: The DPR or detailed project report is yet to prepare for the remaining 33 km of stretch. A total of 497 km have been under construction, whereas the contract is already yet to get awarded for the 162 km of work.

• February 2021: During the presentation of the Union Budget in 2021, the finance minister named Nirmala Sitharaman has stated that the contract will work only for the last 260 km, and it would get awarded before the month of March 2021.

• September 11, 2021: The Sohna-Jaipur section is presumed to get operational from the date.

Key Features of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway – In a Nutshell

The following are the details about Delhi Mumbai expressway:

• The expected length of this Expressway in total is 1,350 km

• This Expressway will shorten the distance between the financial and national capitals of the country.

• It is also expected to reduce the travel time by half the previous timing. The road that takes around 25 hours to complete will eventually be reduced to 12 hours

• The development of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will come to a conclusion within January 2023.

• As per the transport minister, its construction is underway

• Of the total 1,350 km of road, 350km of road has been laid already, and 825 km is under process

• The final 162 km’s bidding is underway and expected to be completed within the next financial year.

• The project has got estimated to be around ₹1 lakh crore

• Vehicles get allowed to run at a speed of 120 km/hr maximum

• The Expressway’s phase one will get a total of 8 lanes, and they are supposed to get expanded to around twelve lanes in the project’s second phase.

• The Expressway is expected to include six-foot walls on both sides to keep animals and pedestrians away from entering its road.

• Another motto has been subjected to the forest reserves. Taking that into account, this Expressway will have animal overpasses. The overpasses enable wild animals to cross the roads in a safe manner. Major expressways and highways cut through territories of wild animals that contribute to road accidents. But the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway has different purposes.

• The Expressway will begin from Sohna of Haryana and end around Mira Bhayander near the financial capital, Mumbai.

• This new Expressway is anticipated to have various exits along its route. It is also expected to feature a multitude of restrooms, petrol pumps, and restaurants, keeping in mind the comfort and safety of voyagers and passengers.

• This Expressway will also feature Wayside Amenities at around 93 places with facilities such as hotels, ATMs, food courts, retail shops, charging stations for electric vehicles, and fuel stations.

• It will become the first Expressway to feature helipads and equipped trauma centres at each 100 km for the accident victims.

• This highway is developing as the eco-friendly Expressway having a tree cover of around 2 million trees, watered with drip irrigation alongside the stretch with rainwater harvesting at each 500 m. It will get lit by using a blend of power supply from Solar energy and state grids.

• As per connectivity is concerned, the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway will get connected directly with multiple other expressways such as DND Flyway or Delhi–Noida Direct Flyway in Delhi, KMP or Kundli–Manesar–Palwal Expressway in Haryana, and Gujarat’s Ahmedabad–Vadodara Expressway. It will also get connected with Mumbai–Pune and Mumbai–Nagpur Expressways in Maharashtra.

This Expressway has been linked to the forthcoming Expressway at Surat. This will promote connectivity between south and north India. The Expressway between Surat and Chennai shall get constructed at Rs. 50K crores. So, this was all about Delhi Mumbai expressway. More updates await shortly. Until they surface on the Internet, you can get an insight into the following FAQs.