Delhi-Jaipur in 3 hours, PM to open expressway section today

This stretch has been built at a cost of Rs 12,150 crore. The overall project, connecting Delhi and Mumbai over 1,386 km of a newly constructed alignment, costs around Rs 1 lakh crore. The entire stretch is targeted to open by December, 2024.

The expressway reduces the distance between Delhi and Mumbai by about 200 km and also promises to halve the by-road journey time from the current 24 hours to just 12.

The DME passes through six states — Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra — and connects major cities such as Kota, Jaipur (Rajasthan), Indore, Bhopal (MP), Vadodara and Surat (Gujarat) through more than 40 major interchange points.

It will also serve 93 PM Gati Shakti Economic Nodes, 13 ports, eight major airports and eight multi-modal logistics parks along with spurs to upcoming greenfield airports such as Jewar (Greater Noida, in NCR), Navi Mumbai and JNPT port (Mumbai). The expressway will have 94 wayside amenities for refreshment, charging of electric vehicles, etc, for users.

The government, which has acquired 15,000 hectares of land to build the new alignment, hopes the DME will boost the economy, as it will reduce travel time significantly, resulting in less turnaround times for vehicles.