Jaipur to Delhi in 2 hours: PM Modi to inaugurate Delhi-Mumbai Expressway’s Sohna-Dausa stretch on Feb 12

(Representative image: Reuters)

The Sohna-Dausa stretch of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will be opened to public by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 12, 2023, reducing the driving time between Delhi and Jaipur to two hours.

The two cities are 270 kilometres apart. The first section of the new Delhi-Mumbai Expressway runs from Sohna in Haryana to Dausa in Rajasthan of which Jaipur is the capital .

"Going to be inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi Ji on 4th Feb, the Sohna-Dausa stretch of the #Delhi_Mumbai_Expressway will reduce the travel time between Delhi and Jaipur to around two hours," Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for road transport and highways tweeted on January 30. The minister later updated the inauguration date to February 12.

"Change in the date"

Now Hon'ble PM Shri @narendramodi Ji will inaugurate the Sohna-Dausa stretch of the #Delhi_Mumbai_Expressway on 12th February. https://t.co/RrNb9WrcHq

— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) January 30, 2023

Delhi-Mumbai Expressway

With a length of around 1,390 km, the Delhi-Mumbai Highway will be the longest freeway in India and cut the distance between the national capital and the country's financial capital in half—from 24 hours to 12 hours.

The expressway is being constructed as part of the first phase of the "Bharatmala Pariyojana" and is expected to be finished by March 2023.

Bharatmala Pariyojana is a new umbrella program for the highways sector that centres on improving efficiency of freight and passenger movement across the country by bridging critical infrastructure gaps through effective interventions like development of Economic Corridors, Inter Corridors and Feeder Routes, National Corridor Efficiency Improvement, Border and International connectivity roads, Coastal and Port connectivity roads and Green-field expressways, according to the government's website.

A total of around 24,800 kms are being considered in Phase I of Bharatmala. In addition, phase I of the Bharatmala Pariyojana includes 10,000 km of remaining NHDP road development, bringing the total to 34,800 km at an estimated cost of Rs. 5,35,000 crore.

The government has been looking to strengthen India's road network to enhance connectivity and the movement of goods.

Also read | Anand Mahindra says this highway is going to be 'the most critical artery' for India’s GDP

Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat would be connected by the eight-lane expressway that can be expanded to 12 lanes.

The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will stimulate regional economic growth, the government has said.

The Vadodara–Ankleshwar section of the expressway is nearing completion, while the other strategic corridors which have already been completed or nearing completion are the Ambala–Kotputli Corridor, which connects Haryana and Rajasthan, and the Amritsar–Jamnagar Corridor, which will link Punjab to Gujarat.