Delhi to get ₹24k-cr road projects with Centre's aid: CM Gupta

Hindustan Times

a day ago

The central government has given to the national capital various road projects worth ₹1.25 lakh crore over the last years due to which key connectivity stretches are in the works, including an underground tunnel from Shiv Murti to Nelson Mandela Road, an elevated corridor from Sarai Kale Khan to IGI Airport, the Delhi–Katra–Amritsar Expressway, and a 20km-long new road from Inderlok metro station to Sonepat via Munak canal, chief minister Rekha Gupta said on Wednesday.
Detailed reports of each of the projects have been prepared and the work is likely to begin soon, she said.
The announcement came after a high-level meeting chaired by Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari. Lieutenant governor V K Saxena, Union minister of state Harsh Malhotra, Delhi cabinet ministers, members of Parliament Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and Manoj Tiwari, and senior government officials were also present at the meeting.
The CM said that the aforementioned projects 'will be crucial in easing the traffic between Delhi and Haryana.' 'Projects worth nearly ₹35,000 crore are currently being implemented in Delhi, and projects worth ₹64,000 crore have already been completed. In the coming times, ₹24,000 crore worth of projects for which detailed project reports have been made will be implemented to decongest Delhi and make traffic movement smooth…I want to thank (PM) Narendra Modi and Nitin Gadkari for helping decongest Delhi and make it a pollution-free city,' said Gupta.
The upcoming projects include the construction of an approximately 7km-long underground tunnel from Shiv Murti to Nelson Mandela Road; an elevated road from INA to the airport — which will later connect to Faridabad and Gurugram; a highway connecting Delhi to Katra and Amritsar, which will be linked to the Urban Extension Road (UER)-II; and a second extension of UER-II, which will connect Alipur to Tronica City and the Delhi–Dehradun route.
These new routes will enable seamless travel between Haryana, Dehradun, and Noida without the need to enter Delhi, officials said.
'A feasibility study is also underway for a tunnel from Sarai Kale Khan to IGI Airport,' CM Gupta said, adding that several key initiatives are being undertaken to decongest Delhi.
The CM also gave details on the completed and ongoing projects. The National Highways Authority of India is currently implementing projects in Delhi worth ₹35,000 crore, while projects worth ₹64,000 crore have already been completed, she said..
According to a government report, the major completed road projects include the 135km Eastern Peripheral Expressway ( ₹12,000 crore), Dhaula Kuan–Gurugram corridor ( ₹373 crore), Gurugram–Sohna Road ( ₹2,009 crore), Delhi–Panipat corridor ( ₹2,205 crore), and the 32km Delhi–Dehradun Expressway stretch from Akshardham to EPE junction ( ₹3,500 crore).
Several other flagship projects are nearing completion, such as the Delhi–Meerut Expressway (92% work done), Dwarka Expressway (98%), UER-II (95%), and the DND Interchange–Kalindi Kunj–Faridabad–Sohna–Jewar Airport Link Road (93%).
Major roads such as Rohtak Road, Punjabi Bagh to Nangloi, Ashram to Badarpur, and MG Road have also been handed over to NHAI, not only for decongestion works but also for the development of proper drainage systems, side lanes, and necessary infrastructure.
'Earlier, such tasks were handled by multiple agencies, leading to issues such waterlogging and unconnected drainage. Now, these problems will be resolved solely by NHAI at its own expense, with support from the Delhi Public Works Department,' said CM Gupta.
NHAI has also sanctioned ₹150 crore for construction of RUBs (Road Under Bridges) and ROBs (Road Over Bridges) to eliminate bottlenecks caused by railway crossings.
'A total of ₹1.25 lakh crore worth projects for decongestion projects have been initiated in Delhi by the central government. I want to thank the Centre for supporting Delhi,' said CM Gupta.
She further said that all future road projects would maximise the use of inert construction material. This initiative will not only reduce burden on landfill sites but also re-purpose the waste into valuable construction resources, she said.