Express Highways in India
India, a country known for its diverse culture and rich landscape, is constantly sustaining massive modifications in roads infrastructure. The National Highway Development Project (NHDP) – 1988, served as a turning point in the history of India as it marked the evolution of highways and expressways. In simple words, expressways are multilane highways. They offer uninterrupted travel by avoiding traffic over long distances. We welcome you to Estate Drive, a top-notch estate drive consultancy company. In this blog post, we delve into the types of Express Highways in India and discuss their construction, budget and how it helped to reduce overall time during travel.
Expressways in India
There are total 44 expressways in India. Express Highways are categorized as National Expressways (11 in total), State Expressways (22 in number), the Expressways under construction, Proposed Expressways. Let’s check out the various details of these express highways in India.
DELHI-MUMBAI EXPRESSWAY
The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway holds the position of being India’s longest and largest expressway. It covers 1350km and consists of 8 lanes, which can be enlarged up to 12 lanes. It is handled by Bharat Mala Pari Yojana. The expressway is under construction but is expected to run by 2024. The proposed project aims to connect the major cities of Delhi and Mumbai, effectively halving the travel time from 24 hours to 12 hours. The route of this expressway will pass by Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujrat, and Maharashtra. The expected costing is 1Lakh Crore rupees, in which Government of India will part 40% cost, rest 60% will be covered by the contractors.
DELHI-MEERUT EXPRESSWAY
Dehi-Meerut expressway is 96km long, connects Delhi and Meerut by passing through Ghaziabad. The cost of the project varied somewhere between 8000-9000 crore rupees. The idea for this project was proposed earlier in 1999, re-proposed in 2013, finally begun in 2015 and completed by 2021. The express highway consists of four sections – Nizamuddin Bridge to Delhi-UP Border (8.7km long with 4 flyovers and 3underpass); Delhi-UP Border to Dasna (19.2km long with 13underpass and 6foot-underpass); Dasna to Hapur (22.2km long with 1flyover and 12underpass); Dasna to Meerut (46km long).
MUMBAI-PUNE EXPRESSWAY
Mumbai Pune Expressway, which is now called Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway, based on the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Yashwantrao Chavan (2009). It is the 1st expressway of India. This Expressway is 95 kilometers long with six lanes wide. It is claimed that it is the busiest road of India. As per the statistics – 43,000 passengers car unit (PCU) travel by this express highway and it can hold up to 1,00,000 PCUs per day. The expressway was functional in 2002. The total budget was 1600 crore rupees approximately. The highway has five interchanges – Kon, Chowk, Khalapur, Kusgaon. Telegaon.
YAMUNA EXPRESSWAY
Yamuna Expressway was inaugurated on 9 August 2012 by the Chief Minister of UP then, Akhilesh Yadav. It is 165.5 kilometers long and six lanes wide. The total cost of this Expressway is 12,839 crore rupees. It connects Noida to Agra, reducing the time to 2.5 hours. A unique quality of this Expressway is that it has CCTV cameras within every five kilometers. Moreover, it connects with Eastern Peripheral Expressway, and also with Agra–Lucknow Expressway.
PURVANCHAL EXPRESSWAY
The Purvanchal Expressway, which is the biggest in UP, is 340 kilometers long with six lanes which can be extended to 8 lanes. The project was started in 2018 and got completed in 2021. The total cost includes 23,000 crores. It progresses through 9 districts of UP, from west to east – Lucknow, Barabanki, Amethi, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur. This tends to reduce the 10 hours timings from Lucknow to Ghazipur. Also, there is a 3.2-kilometer-long airstrip for the emergency landing of aircraft at Sultanpur district.
AHMEDABAD-VADODARA EXPRESSWAY
Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway, popularly called Mahatma Gandhi Expressway connects Ahmedabad and Vadodara in Gujarat. The Expressway is positioned as National Expressway1 in 1986. It is a 93-kilometer-long Expressway and was inaugurated in 2004 by the PM of India then, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The total cost was four ₹475crore. The expressway consists of 24 bridges, 9 underpasses, and 15 flyovers.
MUMBAI-NAGPUR EXPRESSWAY
Mumbai Nagpur Expressway is also known as Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, which connects 10 districts –Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Washim, Buldhana, Jalna, Aurangabad, Nashik, Ambi Nagar, Thane. This Expressway reduces the time between Mumbai and Nagpur to 8 hours. It is 701 kilometers long and six lanes wide. Total cost is 54,000 crores. It connects to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai and Nagpur Multimodal International Airport at Nagpur.
EASTERN PERIPHERAL EXPRESSWAY
Eastern Peripheral Expressway is 135 kilometer long which passes by UP and Haryana in India. It is also known as Kundli–Ghaziabad–Palwal–Expressway as it starts from the western peripheral and ends at Palwal in the eastern part. This Expressway is the first smart and green highway as it has a record of planting 2.5 lakh trees on both sides. Its cost is approximately 11,000 crores. It crosses Delhi-Meerut expressway and has seven exit points. Also, it provides connectivity in Meerut.
DWARKA EXPRESSWAY
Dwarka Expressway is also called the Northern Peripheral Road as it is 27.6 kilometers long only. It connects Dwarka, Delhi to Gurgaon, Haryana. It is 8 lanes wide with 20 flyovers, 11 underpasses and 20 pedestrian crosses. The total cost was rupees 7500 crore. It is believed that this Expressway would reduce the traffic at Delhi Gurgaon Expressway. It was started in 2006 and was completed by 2016.
BUNDELKHAND EXPRESSWAY
Bundelkhand Expressway is also known as Solar Expressway as per the policy of solar energy in UP (2022). The Expressway has solar panels engraved on both sides of the four-lane expressway. It is 296 kilometers long and connects Gonda Village in Chitrakoot district on Agra-Lucknow Expressway in Etawaha district. The Prime Minister of India, Shree Narendra Modi marked the construction of this Expressway on Feb 29, 2020, and by the end of 2022, it was started for the people. This Expressway passes through 7 districts in UP – Etawaha, Auraiya, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Mohaba, Banda and Chitrakoot. The total cost was 15,000 crores nearby.
Expressways have emerged as a prominent segment of India’s modern transportation network. They not only foster rapid connectivity but also play a vital role in promoting economic growth. Additionally, they reduce overall travelling time and promote the efficient movement of goods.
Thank you for reading this blog. I hope you found the answers you were looking for. For more information, connect with us on our social media and website.
