Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the Haryana section of the Dwarka Expressway and laid the foundation stone for 112 National Highway projects across the country, collectively valued at approximately Rs 1 lakh crore.

PM Modi highlighted that he has inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of projects worth Rs 10 lakh crore in 2024. Regarding the Dwarka Expressway, he emphasised its potential to boost economic activities in the National Capital Region. Additionally, he stated that expressways create numerous opportunities for rural India.

The inauguration of the initial phase of the Rs 9,000-crore Dwarka Expressway occurred nearly 18 years after the Haryana government first proposed the construction of an additional connection between Delhi and Gurgaon.

The Planning Commission had recommended the construction of three new link roads between Delhi and Gurgaon to ease traffic congestion on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway and MG Road. However, work on the other two proposed routes, from Vasant Kunj to DLF-II and from MG Road to Gurgaon-Faridabad Road, has not yet begun.

While addressing PM Modi stated the Dwarka Expressway is expected to "boost economic activities in the National Capital Region." He further stated that "fast development of infrastructure will help India become the third-largest economy in the world."

PM Modi inaugurated the Haryana section of the Dwarka Expressway, an 8-lane segment covering 19 km and built at a cost of ₹4,100 crore. The project aims to enhance traffic flow and alleviate congestion between Delhi and Gurugram on National Highway (NH)-48.

According to PM Modi, "Only Congress and its arrogant alliance are facing the biggest problem with these development works worth lakhs of crores of rupees being done in the country. They are not able to sleep. That's why they are saying that Modi is doing work worth lakhs of crores of rupees because of elections. The country has changed so much in 10 years, but the views of Congress and its friends have not changed…"

This marks the fifth expressway to become operational in the NCR in the past six years. Since 2018, two peripheral expressways - Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), Western Periphery Expressway (WPE), Delhi-Meerut Expressway, and Sohna-Sawai Madhopur section of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway have been opened to the public.

The first section of the Dwarka Expressway, one package of the six-lane Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II) from Nangloi-Najafgarh Road to Sector 24 in Dwarka (9.6km) will also be opened for traffic on Monday.

Dwarka Expressway is a vital part of the Centre's Rs 60,000 crore highway development plan in the NCR aimed at decongesting the capital. NHAI is building it as a 'model' urban expressway to meet the region's traffic requirements for the next 20-25 years.

Laying the foundation stone for the 28.5 km expressway on March 7, 2019, then finance minister Arun Jaitley stated that expressways would "boost the economy of the country as highways boosted the economy of the United States".

Image source: Hindustan Times