Mumbai to Delhi in 13 hours! Nitin Gadkari says Delhi-Mumbai expressway to be ready by 2022

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Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on September 3 said the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will be ready within two years.

Speaking at the 60th Annual convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Gadkari said that the highway will be operational in the next two years.

He also informed that the current rate of road building per day has averaged to 30 km/day, with the highest being 40 km/day for highways.

The 1,200-1,300 long Delhi-Mumbai expressway will cut the travel time between the cities to 13 hours from 24 hours.

Earlier reports suggested that the project was earlier expected to be complete by 2023.

Under Phase-1 of the NHAI's Bharatmala project spanning over a period of five years (2017-18 to 2021-22), the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is one of the flagship highways.

Here's all you need to know about the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway:

> The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will have eight lanes, with a provision to expand to 12 lanes.

> It will be India's longest Greenfield Expressway, with a design speed of 120 km/hour. Access to the expressway will be controlled through closed tolling.

> The project is a part of the Bharatmala Pariyojna Phase-1 program. The expressway has a capital cost of Rs 82,514 crore, out if which Rs 20,928 crore is the land acquisition cost.

> The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has created a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to finance the construction of the project.

>75-way side amenities will be set up along the Delhi-Mumbai expressway, at an interval of 50 km, the report added.

> It will also act as an alternative to the existing route along NH-48, which is longer (1,440 km) as well as more congested.

>The development of the Delhi – Mumbai expressway is estimated to generate employment of nearly 50 lakh man-days during the construction phase.

> With a design speed of 120 kilometres per hour, it is set to be India's longest greenfield expressway. This means one can cover the Delhi to Mumbai stretch in minimum at roughly 11 hours via this route.