Delayed Work On Gujarat Section Pushes Delhi-Mumbai Expressway Deadline To 2027
The new expressway, built at a cost of more than Rs 1 lakh crore, is planned to provide connectivity to major economic centres within Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra
The progress of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway on five packages with a collective length of 140 km between Surat and the Gujarat-Maharashtra border is delayed, resulting in further push for the project deadline, News18 has learnt.
While the entire stretch of the expressway is expected to be completed by October 2025, as announced by Union minister Nitin Gadkari last year, the updates tell a different story.
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The work between Vadodara and Surat is divided into five packages and in the last 25 km section, almost half of the work is complete.
Similarly, the next section from Surat till the state border is divided into five packages and all except one have slow progress. In the 60km section, covering two packages, the progress is less than 10 per cent while in one section of 25km, it is less than 30 per cent.
Almost half of the work is completed in another 30km section.
In Madhya Pradesh, the expressway is already completed and operational (around 250km). The main section of the expressway in Haryana is also completed and operational while the part under the spur is almost complete and can be expected this year.
In Rajasthan, small sections are pending, including a tunnel. The section in Rajasthan is expected to be ready in the next 10-12 months, officials aware of the development told News18.
Parts of the expressway in Maharashtra are, however, not expected to be ready before the end of 2026, the officials said.
The entire project is underway in 53 packages, including spurs, with a total length of 1,386km.
In July 2024, the ministry of road transport and highways said work on 26 packages had been completed with the collective physical progress of the work at 82 per cent.
Of the 1,386km, 619km of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is operational, including the Delhi-Dausa-Sawai Madhopur section, Jhalawar-Ratlam-MP/Gujarat border, and the Vadodara-Bharuch section.
The ministry also said last year that work on 1,136km has been completed, adding that the revised scheduled completion date is October 2025.
The expressway is majorly divided into two parts — the 845-km Delhi-Vadodara section and the 450-km Vadodara-Mumbai section. The section up to Vadodara was expected to be ready this month while that to Mumbai had a deadline of October 2025, if the work had completed on time as per the plan. The 90-km DND Sohna and Jewar part of the road was expected by July 2025.
Currently, Mumbai and Delhi are connected by NH-48, which is longer (1,440 km) as well as congested.
The new expressway, built at a cost of more than Rs 1 lakh crore, is planned to provide connectivity to major economic centres within Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
The total distance between Delhi to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) at Navi Mumbai will be reduced by about 180 km and travel time will drop to about half.
News18 had also reported in July 2024 that even before completion, the partially opened Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is the longest in India, surpassing all the existing e-ways in the country.
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