Union Minister Nitin Gadkari last week inspected the work of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. With the launch of this expressway, tolls of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 crore will be collected from this road every month, he said. This means that Rs 12,000 to 18,000 crore will go into the coffers of the central government every year. This expressway will start in 2023.
There are advantages to this express highway. The expressway, which connects the national capital Delhi and the financial capital Mumbai, will save half the travel time. The journey will be 12 hours instead of 24 hours. It will be the largest expressway in the world. The length of this eight lane expressway will be 1380 km. This road will lead to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust. However, the government is planning to build the road to Nariman Point.
The Delhi-Mumbai expressway route map will run through Gujarat (426 km), Rajasthan (373 km), Madhya Pradesh (244 km), Maharashtra (171 km), Haryana (129 km), and Delhi (9 km). At present, it takes 48 hours by truck and 24 to 26 hours by car to reach Mumbai from Delhi. Once the expressway is built, the distance will be covered in 12 to 13 hours by car and 18 to 20 hours by truck.
The estimated cost of the project is Rs 98,000 crore. If the annual revenue is Rs 12,000 crore, then all the expenses will be recovered within the next 8 years. It will also reduce the debt burden on NHAI. Total debt stood at Rs 3,06,704 crore in March. According to Gadkari, after the next five years, the country will start getting Rs 1.40 lakh crore annually from tolls. At present, the revenue is Rs 40,000 crore.