A Comprehensive Guide to Delhi Katra Expressway

Roads have always been vital for India’s goods, freight, and personnel. To begin with, India has major highway connectivity, which makes it the country’s second transportation network. India manages its traffic and logistical support movement efficiently and effectively through 1,50,000 kilometres of expressways. Apart from facilitating logistical issues, they also allow ordinary citizens to travel anywhere in the world without difficulty. Delhi Katra Expressway, India’s northern artery, is a major expressway path.

About Delhi Katra Expressway  

The 670 Km long Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway will allow commuters to reach Katra from Delhi in 6 hours, lowering the 730-kilometre length to around 590 kilometres. This four-lane highway is scheduled to open by the end of 2023. It is currently approved as a four-lane highway but could be expanded to eight lanes. While the land acquisition is still ongoing, the renovation tender for some parts is nearly complete.

The Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway is considered one of the ten highways to be developed  under the ‘Bharatmala Pariyojana’ project. This 670 km expressway will run via various major cities like Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu, and Kashmir. It is presently a 4-lane connectivity highway but might extend to an 8-lane in the upcoming years.

The highway will facilitate religious tourism by connecting Delhi, Jammu (Vaishno Devi), and Amritsar (the Golden Temple). The highway will also link other pure and holy Sikh sites such as Tarn Taran, Khadoor Sahib, Dera Baba Nanak, and Goindwal Sahib. 

Top Localities Delhi Katra Expressway

The renovation of the expressway will enhance connectivity from Delhi to important holy places in Punjab, Jammu, and Kashmir. Some of the localities, like Vaishno Devi, Goindwal Sahib, Sultanpur Lodhi, Tarn Taran, and Khadoor Sahib, are among the holiest sites accessible via the Delhi Amritsar Katra Highway. 

• Vaishno Devi: It is a Hindu holy place well linked to Delhi and other numerous western UP cities by roads and railways. Worshippers commuting from Delhi can probably cover the length in 6 hours thanks to the new highway. Moreover, it also boosted economic growth in Vaishno Devi and Katra.
• Amritsar: It is the 2nd largest metropolitan area in Punjab, located 28 km from Pakistan. The Golden Temple and Gurudwara are situated in the city. When the highway gets completed, then it will be taking four hours to travel from Delhi to Punjab.

Top Residential Projects in Delhi Katra Expressway

The proposal was authorised in 2016, and the construction report was completed in 2019. Some of the residential projects along the Delhi Katra Expressway are as follows: 

• The expressway will link Bahadurgarh city boundaries with Punjab towns like Nakodar and Gurdaspur to Katra.
• Further, a suburb in Punjab (Nakodar), the Greenfield highway separates in two ways.
• The first Greenfield segment would run via Sultanpur Lodhi, Khadoor Sahib, Goindwal Sahib and TarnTarn before terminating adjacent to the International Airport in Amritsar (Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee).

Current Status 

The current distance between Delhi and Katra is 730 kilometres. It will be halved to 590 km once the motorway is operational. Travelling will be simpler on this highway, which will reduce the journey time from 14 to 6 hours. In addition, the pathway between Delhi and Amritsar will be reduced by about 400 km. Further, the journey time will be decreased by half from the existing 8 hours.

Nitin Gadkari, transport minister, stated in September 2021 that the Delhi Katra Expressway project would be completed in 2 years, by 2023. The proposal is expected to cost Rs 47,000 crore, with a segment of the funds going toward acquiring land and the remainder going toward construction. 

Delhi Katra Expressway Route

Feedback Architecture planned the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and integration research for the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway in 2019, and land acquisition began in January 2020.

The first phase will run from the Kundli Manesar Palwal (KMP) expressway close to Kheri Jasaur village in the Jhajjar neighbourhood to the Gurdaspur Bypass in the Gurdaspur district. Its green-field Nakodar – Amritsar spur begins in Nakodar village, at the crossroads of the Delhi – Katra Expressway and NH 703. Moreover, it is finished on Amritsar’s Ajnala Road (NH 354), close to the International Airport (Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee).  

The expressway’s orientation will move via Haryana’s Jhajjar, Rohtak, Sonipat, Jind, Karnal, and Kaithal localities, as well as Punjab’s Sangrur, Patiala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Kapurthala, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, and Gurdaspur towns.

Delhi Katra Expressway Speed Limit

Once fully implemented, the path is anticipated to increase business and tourism between the urban areas while also saving a significant amount of money and time. Once accomplished, the expressway travel time will be minimised from Delhi to Katra(14 to 6 hours). The expressway’s speed limit will be 90 kilometres per hour.

Delhi Katra Expressway Map 

The Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway route is shown below. It indicates which places will be served by the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway. The motorway begins in Jasaur Kheri, near the town of the Bahadurgarh boundary in Delhi, and ends at the International Airport (Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee) in Amritsar, Punjab, and Katra, Jammu and Kashmir.

Delhi Katra Expressway Toll and Rates

The below-mentioned depicts the toll and rates for the Delhi Katra expressway:

Delhi Katra Expressway Distance

The Delhi Katra Expressway links different cities in Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Punjab. It will run from Bahadurgarh city in Delhi to Katra (Jammu & Kashmir), via Gurdaspur and Nakodar. NH 5 runs for 397 km from Delhi to Nakodar, and NH 5A runs for 99 km from (Amritsar to Nakodar).

The highway will decrease up to 670 km, and the commute time will also be minimised by 8 to 4 hours from Delhi to Amritsar. Likewise, Delhi and Katra travel time will get lowered from 14 to 6 hours. Further, the total route between Delhi and Amritsar would be 405 km. The route distance between Katra and Delhi will be 588 km, down from 727 km currently.

In a Nutshell

With the completion of the Delhi Katra Expressway, the travel time between the two cities has been halved from 14 hours to 6 hours. As an outcome, effectiveness has enhanced, traffic problems have decreased, and air quality has been reduced. With the increased demand for equity and residential units, it will have a favourable influence on the real estate industry over time.

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