The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved two major road infrastructure projects worth a combined Rs 14,115 crore, including a six-lane tunnel connecting the Dwarka Expressway with Vasant Kunj in Delhi and a four-lane access-controlled highway between Kanpur and Kabrai in Uttar Pradesh.
The larger of the two announcements includes the construction of an 8.1-km six-lane tunnel on NH-148AE in Delhi at an estimated cost of Rs 6,969.67 crore. The project will be developed under the Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) as part of the National Highways (Original) scheme.
According to the government, the project is aimed at improving connectivity between West and South Delhi by linking the Dwarka Expressway and Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II) with Nelson Mandela Marg in Vasant Kunj. The tunnel is expected to benefit commuters travelling from Gurugram, Dwarka, IGI Airport and West Delhi towards South Delhi while easing congestion on existing road networks.
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The alignment will begin from the Shiv Murti Interchange and terminate before the junction of Nelson Mandela Marg and Mahipalpur-Chhatarpur Road. It will pass beneath the environmentally sensitive Southern Delhi Ridge through a twin-tube tunnel constructed using Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) technology, with around 1.98 km of the tunnel running under the forest area to minimise surface disruption.
To further improve traffic flow, the project also includes a 1.8-km elevated road along Nelson Mandela Marg, an additional flyover from Chhatarpur towards Mahipalpur, and an elevated U-turn facility for right-turning traffic heading towards Chhatarpur.
The total 8.1-km project comprises 3.14 km of tunnel, 0.98 km of tunnel approach ramps, 0.554 km of reinforced earth wall approaches, 2.556 km of elevated corridor and 0.87 km of at-grade road.
The government said the tunnel will integrate with the proposed elevated corridor between AIIMS and Mahipalpur, which is being planned by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The link will eventually connect with the Barapullah elevated corridor, improving connectivity between West, South and East Delhi as well as Ghaziabad and Noida.
Separately, the Cabinet also approved the construction of a four-lane access-controlled highway between Kanpur and Kabrai in Uttar Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 7,145 crore.
Together, the two projects involve an investment of Rs 14,115 crore and are aimed at improving regional connectivity while reducing travel time and congestion.
The government estimates that every lane-kilometre of national highway construction generates around 264 person-days of direct employment and 55 person-days of indirect employment. Based on this, the Delhi tunnel project alone is expected to create nearly 7.54 lakh person-days of direct employment and 9.8 lakh person-days of indirect employment, besides generating additional economic activity in the surrounding areas.
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