The Delhi–Mumbai Expressway, the longest-awaited highway in India connecting the national capital and the country’s business capital, will be inaugurated and put into public use tomorrow, 12 months 2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the first section of this route. The highway between Sohna in Haryana and Dausa in Rajasthan is about 209 km long. The entire highway from Delhi to Mumbai will be opened in phases over the next few months with the aim of almost halving the travel time between the two cities.
Here are 10 major highlights of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway that you should know before planning a long drive on this route.
LONGEST highway
With a total length of 1,386 km, the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will be the longest highway in India. It will pass through five states including Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Delhi has the shortest section at 9 km, while most of the highway will be in Gujarat at 423 km. The highway has reduced the distance between Delhi and Mumbai by 180 km.
MOST ADVANCED expressway
The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will also offer some features that most other highways in India do not have. This green field highway will come with an automatic traffic management system in addition to other features such as regular charging stations for electric vehicles, rainwater collection every 500 meters or more. Overall, it will have more than 2,000 water refill points. The highway will also have a dedicated corridor for laying fiber optic cables, pipelines and solar power generation installations.
FASTEST SPEED
Launched in 2018, the entire Delhi-Mumbai Expressway project is expected to be completed within 5 years. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone in March 2019. In terms of distance, this is the fastest time in which India has built a functional highway. The total cost of highway construction is set at $one lakh crore.
DIFFERENT PIT STOP
Long distances often require stops to refresh and replenish. There will be 94 roadside amenities to improve the motorway travel experience. These stops will also have provisions for parking, recharging electric cars and even refueling. Among other things, these facilities will also include restaurants, dormitories, hospitals and food courts.
ECO-Friendly Expressway
As the highway will pass through several reserve forests, including Ranthambore, NHAI has added multiple overpasses and animal underpasses to prevent any accidents. This is the first highway in India as well as Asia. It will also have at least two tunnels through ecologically sensitive areas such as the Mukundra reserve in Rajasthan and Matheran in Maharashtra.
GOOD CONNECTION
The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will have more than 40 major intersections. It will connect two major cities between Delhi and Mumbai such as Kota, Indore, Jaipur, Bhopal, Vadodara and Surat. Eventually, the highway will connect Delhi with the upcoming Jewar Airport in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh and Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai.
MAX SPEED
The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will allow the maximum speed limit that any highway in India must provide. Light vehicles such as cars will be able to travel at speeds of 120 km/h. Speed limits for heavy vehicles such as buses and trucks are likely to be lower.
REDUCES TRAFFIC TIME
Modern highways with a top speed of 120 km/h will reduce travel time between the national capital and the country’s business capital. According to Gadkari, it would only take a person 12 hours to cover the entire distance by road. It currently takes about 24 hours to travel by car from Delhi to Mumbai. It will also bring cities like Jaipur closer to Delhi in about three hours.
WIthest highway
With eight lanes provided, the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is one of the widest highways in India. It will also provide service lanes on either side for access control. The expressway is also expected to be widened to 12 lanes in the future. With a total land area of 15,000 ha acquired for expressway development, this is the first expressway with a median strip in the middle of 21 meters according to the principle of highway clearance allowing inward expansion.
CREATE EMPLOYEES
The expressway is also expected to create jobs for the people living around. According to the Centre, the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will create 10 million job days.
First published date: February 11, 2023, 13:11 PM IST
