News Analysis India

Tag: Delhi–Mumbai Expressway

  • 22 km long highway to Haryana thrown open

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH: The six-lane elevated highway constructed on NH 248-A, in order to decongest the commute from Delhi to Sohna in Haryana via Gurugram, has been opened for traffic on July 12.

    To be operated on a trial basis, the stretch will cut travel time from the existing 60 minutes to between 15-20 minutes. This corridor also forms part of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, which connects the capital with Gurugram.

    Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, said the opening of this 22-km-long stretch NH will help commuters save fuel and time. He said a six-lane access-controlled corridor with a total elevated section of 7 km has been developed on the Gurugram-Sohna corridor constructed at a cost of about Rs 2,000 crore. 

    Three three-lane service roads have been provided on either side of the highway to cater to local traffic. 

    An official said that the project was divided into two parts to complete the construction within the stipulated time frame. Under project one, the construction work of 8.94 km of the project had commenced on January 1, 2019, between Rajiv Chowk to Badshahpur.

    Three elevated structures were prepared, with a total length of 4.75 km. Along with this entire project, this elevated structure will be the longest elevated road in Gurugram.

    Under project-1, a third elevated structure of 324 meters length has also been prepared in Badshahpur.

    At the same time, on January 30, 2019, the construction work of the part starting from Bhondsi to Sohna was started under project two. Two elevated roads of 1.84 km and 1.12 km each, a flyover with a length of 1 km and two underpasses have been constructed in the total stretch of 12.71 km of this project.

    Along with this, a 750-m light vehicle underpass has also been built for the movement of small vehicles.

    The construction work of this entire project was fixed to be completed in 30 months. But due to the interruptions in the construction work during Covid, its deadline was extended till June 30, this year.

    The official also said that a 24-lane toll plaza has been constructed. A total of 12 lanes each have been made on both sides in the toll plaza for faster passage.

    To cut travel time to Gurugram, Sohna

    6 lane elevated corridor on NH 248-A opened on trial basis
    7 Access-controlled corridor with total elevated section of 7 km
    25 kilometre total length of corridor
    Travel time cut from 60 minutes to 15-20 minutes 
    Corridor part of final phase of project to ease traffic in Delhi-Gurugram-Sohna stretch
    A third elevated structure of 324 m opened in Badshahpur

  • Delhi-Mumbai Expressway to fetch Rs 1,000 cr to 1,500 crore revenues every month, says Gadkari

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Centre will get toll revenues worth Rs 1,000 to 1,500 crore every month once the much-awaited Delhi-Mumbai Expressway becomes operational in 2023, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Sunday and described state-owned NHAI as a “gold mine” for generating income.

    Steering the ambitious drive to expand the country’s road infrastructure for the past seven years, a confident Gadkari also asserted that National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will rake in annual toll income to the tune of Rs 1.40 lakh crore in the next five years from the current level of Rs 40,000 crore.

    Gadkari, who just completed a whirlwind tour to assess the progress of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway that will pass through four states apart from the national capital, said the national highways infrastructure is a world-class success story.

    “Once the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is completed and opened for the public, we will get at least Rs 1,000-1,500 crore as toll revenues every month,” he told PTI in an interview.

    The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is likely to be completed by March 2023 and is being built as part of the first phase of the ‘Bharatmala Pariyojana’.

    The eight-lane expressway, covering Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, is expected to halve the commute time between the national capital and the country’s financial hub from nearly 24 hours to 12 hours.

    Against the backdrop of concerns being flagged about NHAI being saddled with high level of debt, the Union Road Transport and Highways Minister pointed out that the nodal agency has received ‘AAA’ rating and all its road projects are productive.

    ‘AAA’ is one of the highest credit ratings and indicate robust financial position.

    “NHAI was not in a debt trap, and it will never be in debt trap in future. It is a gold mine, and is on strong footing in the next five years, NHAI’s toll income will rise to Rs 1.40 lakh crore per year from current toll income of Rs 40,000 crore,” Gadkari noted.

    In March, the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture had expressed its displeasure over a whopping Rs 97,115 crore-debt servicing liability on NHAI.

    Recently, the minister informed Rajya Sabha that total borrowings of NHAI increased to Rs 3,06,704 crore at the end of March this year from Rs 74,742 crore in March 2017.

    While noting that investments in the infrastructure sector will create employment and accelerate the country’s economic growth, Gadkari said, “We (NHAI and the ministry) are working on projects worth lakhs of crores”.

    When the economy is on a decline, “then economics tells us that there is a need to increase investments in infrastructure”, he added.

    The country’s economy has been adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and is slowly on the recovery path.

  • UP to bear half of cost of link road connecting Delhi-Mumbai Expressway with Jewar airport

    By Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Solving the issue of cost-sharing of the link road joining Delhi-Mumbai Expressway with Jewar International Airport project, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana government have decided to share the cost incurred on road construction equally.

    Earlier, it was not clear who will bear the major burden of cost as the Haryana government has to build a bigger portion  (around 23.5 km of the total 31 km) of the link road. However, the Uttar Pradesh government has committed to share half of the total cost of the link road project.

    The link road is expected to boost the connectivity in the Yamuna Expressway. It will give a push to trade activities in the region apart from making it easy for the fliers from Haryana.

    According to a senior official of the industries department of the UP government, the holistic development of the Ghaziabad-Noida-Dadri industrial corridor investment region has to be kept in mind as the link road between Jewar Greenfield Airport area and Delhi-Mumbai expressway will be helpful in the long term.

    Earlier, the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) had given the task of checking the feasibility of building the link road to RITES.

    RITES  had given two options–either to link the Jewar airport site and Yamuna Expressway to Ballabhgarh in Faridabad or to provide an interchange somewhere close to the alignment of the Delhi-Mumbai expressway and Western Peripheral expressway.

    The second option was proposed to cater to the larger population, service providers, and business operators active in Haryana.

    As per the sources, building the spur route to Ballabhgarh seemed more feasible and a proposal in this regard was sent to the state government by YEIDA. The state government’s decision has yet to come.

    Sources said that the Uttar Pradesh government has agreed to share half the cost of the project and will reach out to the special purpose vehicle (SPV) of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) that is executing the Delhi-Mumbai expressway project to take things forward.

    About 7.5km out of the total 31km link road will fall in Uttar Pradesh while the remaining 23.5km will come on the other side of Yamuna in Haryana.

    A bridge will be constructed over the river and YEIDA will acquire the land required for the project.

    Officials said preliminary discussions have already taken place with NHAI and funds will be arranged within the next few weeks to start the tendering process.

    However, the YEIDA sources claimed that NHAI’s SPV would be needed only to commission the work. Land and funds would be provided by the two states governments involved.

  • New link road to connect Jewar Airport with Delhi-Mumbai Expressway

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments have reportedly reached an agreement to construct a 31 km long link road to connect the upcoming Jewar International Airport in Noida with Delhi–Mumbai Expressway passing through Ballabhgarh in Haryana. 

    The expressway is just 31 km away from the upcoming international airport at Jewar.

    Highly-placed sources in Yamuna Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) claimed that both the state governments would acquire the stretch of land required in the respective states and National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) would construct the link road.

    While UP would require to acquire land for seven kilometres stretch of the 31-km link road, rest 24 kilometres stretch would fall in Harayana.

    The link road would reduce the travel time from Jewar Airport to Indira Gandhi International Airport to approximately one hour.

    The 1250 km Expressway connecting Delhi and Mumbai is proposed to pass through Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The Expressway, being constructed by the NHAI, is likely to be completed in the next 2-3 years.

    Construction work on the Jewar international airport project got delayed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns and travel bans. The Zurich Airport has won the tender for the construction of the airport.

    The NHAI is already constructing a 92-km long road to link the Expressway with Indira Gandhi International Airport in seven steps. Some sections of this link road are elevated also.

    The distance between Jewar and IGI airports is around 123 km. The speed on link road connecting Delhi-Mumbai Expressway with Jewar Airport would be around 120 km/hour. “After the construction of the link road, people will be able to reach IGI from Jewar in just an hour,” said a senior YEIDA officer.