Delhi–Mumbai Expressway likely by 2027–28, Gadkari tells Rajya Sabha
Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari was replying to a question by former Union minister and Rajya Sabha lawmaker Kapil Sibal
New Delhi: The Delhi–Mumbai Expressway (DME), which passes through five states and is expected to reduce on-road travel time, is likely to be completed by 2027–28, Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
The original deadline for the 1,350-km expressway, which passes through Haryana (129 km), Rajasthan (373 km), Madhya Pradesh (244 km), Gujarat (426 km) and Maharashtra (171 km), was March 2024.
During Question Hour in the Lok Sabha last week, the minister had said the first leg of the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway, from the Delhi–Noida Direct (DND) Flyway to Jaitpur in Delhi, will be ready by June 2026, with 94% of the work completed.
The Sohna–Dausa–Lalsot stretch in Haryana and Rajasthan has been operational since February 2023.
In July 2024, the government had stated that more than 80% of the project’s physical progress had been completed.
This delay is not an exception, as among 1,208 under-construction national highway projects, Gadkari said on Wednesday that 649 have exceeded their original contractual completion schedules.
About half of these—301 projects—face delays of less than a year, while 263 projects face delays of one to three years. Another 85 projects have delays of more than three years without attaining any stage of project completion, the reply added.
Replying to a question by former Union minister and Rajya Sabha lawmaker Kapil Sibal, Gadkari also revealed that a total of 3,468 km of national highways has been built in the current financial year up to October, the halfway mark, against a total target of 10,000 km for the year.
