Indian expressway connecting Delhi with Katra in J&K
Delhi–Amritsar–Katra Expressway
Established
April 2024 (expected)
Delhi–Amritsar–Katra Expressway is an approved 670 km (420 mi) long, 4-lane (expandable to 8 lanes) wide controlled-access expressway, which will connect Bahadurgarh border near Delhi with Katra in Jammu and Kashmir via Haryana and Punjab.[1][2] It will have a spur section which will connect Nakodar with Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport located in Raja Sansi, Amritsar.[3] The 397.7 km (247.1 mi) long Delhi–Katra Expressway is National Expressway 5(NE-5) and 99 km (62 mi) long Nakodar-Amritsar Expressway is National Expressway 5A(NE-5A). Once completed, it will reduce the current Delhi-Katra distance from 727 km (452 mi) to 588 km (365 mi) and the time travel will be reduced from 14 hours to 6 hours, and Delhi-Amritsar distance to 405 km (252 mi) and from the time travel will be reduced from 8 hours to only 4 hours.[3]
It will have a trauma centre, ambulances, fire brigades, traffic police, bus bays, truck stops, interchanges with refreshment, and recreational facilities. To be constructed as a part of the Bharatmala Pariyojana,[1] it is expected to cost ₹40,000 crores.[4]Detailed Project Report (DPR) was completed in November 2019,[5] and land acquisition commenced from January 2020.[6][7] M/S Feedback Infra Pvt Ltd. was appointed as DPR consultant to carry out alignment studies which submitted the final shortest proposed alignment report of Delhi–Nakodar–Gurdaspur section in September 2019,[8] Nakodar–Amritsar section in June 2020, and the survey is currently under progress in Jammu section.[9] It is part of Ludhiana-Delhi-Kolkatta Industrial Corridor. There are 11 National industrial corridors and numerous state level industrial corridors in India.
The Greenfield expressway splits into two near Nakodar. One greenfield section towards Amritsar would pass nearby Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadoor Sahib, TarnTarn and ends near Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport.[10] The second section goes straight to Katra, bypassing Kathua and Jammu, and it consists of both greenfield and brownfield parts. Central and state governments also agreed to connect Dera Baba Nanak and Kartarpur Corridor with this expressway project. Nearly 14,000 acres of land in Punjab and 5,000 acres of Haryana will be acquired to construct these expressways.
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Construction
The NHAI has divided the construction work of Delhi–Amritsar–Katra Expressway into 2 phases with a total of 21 construction packages.
Phase 1
The construction work of 397.7 km (247.1 mi) long Delhi–Nakodar–Gurdaspur section is divided into 12 packages. Package 8 to 12 has been awarded to the joint venture (JV) of Evrascon and MKC Infrastructure Limited (MKCIL).
Alignment is from Nilothi-Kharkhoda–Gohana (west)–Jind (east)–Safidon (west)–Ratoli (Ambala–Narnaul)–Assandh (west)–Kalayat–Kaithal (west)–Barta. There is a proposal to extend it in Delhi from Nilothi to "Urban Extension Road II".
Nakodar (northeast of), between Nakodar-Jalandhar on NH-703 Nakodar-Jalandhar Road.
Nakodar (north of), 2 following separate Y-fork expressways spurs from Nakodar: one to Amritsar–Kartarpur in the west and another to Jammu–Katra in the northwest - one goes to Pathankot–Jammu and another goes to Amritsar.
Sri Hargobindpur (southwest of), route realignment done at some stretches due to high-pressure "Bathinda–Jammu Gas Pipeline" and "GIGL's CNG Gas Plant" near Mari Buchian.
Sri Hargobindpur (west of), between Amritsar and Sri Hargobindpur on NH-503A Amritsar–Sri Hargobindpur-Urmar Tanda–Hoshiarpur Road.
Chandigarh:NH-5 Ludhiana–Chandigarh Highway via Kharar and Ropar strengthened and widened to 4 lanes, to provide connectivity to Chandigarh Airport via Urban Extension Road II. This will reduce Ludhiana-Chandigarh time from 1.5 hours to less than one hour and Chandigarh–Amritsar from 4 hours to 2 hours.[3]
2019 Nov: DPR of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway completed by NHAI.[5]
2020 Jun–Jul: In Haryana, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir, the land acquisition process started.[6][7][20][9]
2021 Apr: Construction work awarded by NHAI for all 12 packages on 397.7 Km long Delhi-Nakodar-Gurdaspur section, and 2 out of 3 packages on 99 km long Nakodar-Amritsar section.
2021 Sep: NHAI announces the completion deadline is by October 2023.[21]
2024 Aug: Likely completion date for Delhi-Ludhiana Katra is 31 December 2025 and 1 April 2026 for the Ludhiana-Amritsar spur. 669 km Delhi-Katra expressway almost complete in most states except Punjab due to the land acquisition issues in Punjab. Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir packages are 80-90% complete. In Punjab, where the completion rate for various packages is 3% to 90%, only 273 km is complete and 362 km is incomplete.[25] In Punjab of the total 295 km of land required, the land acquisition of 230 km is complete in 11 out of 13 districts except Ludhiana and Gurdaspur, the remaining 65 km will be acquired by the end of September 2024.[26]
