The Union government has announced plans to build a new greenfield expressway aimed at strengthening connectivity between northern and southern parts of the country. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that the proposed corridor will significantly shorten travel distances and improve road transport efficiency.
The proposed route will run from Surat in Gujarat to Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh, forming part of a broader highway network that connects multiple major cities across the country.
Expressway to cut Delhi–Chennai distance
According to the minister, the new expressway will help reduce the distance between Delhi and Chennai by about 320 kilometres, which is expected to lower travel time and transportation costs.
“Now, we have taken a decision which is a historical decision, of making the Express highway from Mumbai to Delhi, which is already 70-80 per cent complete.
“After Surat, we are making a new Green Express highway, starting from Surat to Nasik to Ahmednagar to Sholapur to Kurnool, and from there it will connect to Chennai, Kanyakumari, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Cochin. It is a new connectivity from North India to South India,” the minister informed members.
Officials said the highway will improve connectivity across several important economic and transport hubs, helping ease the movement of goods and passengers between different regions.
Travel time between Delhi and Mumbai to fall
Gadkari also highlighted that the ongoing infrastructure push would drastically reduce travel time between Delhi and Mumbai once the new expressway network is completed.
“It is going to reduce the distance between Delhi and Chennai by 320 kms, which in turn will reduce the cost, and because of the highway, we will also reduce the time period. So, Mumbai-Delhi will be within 12 hours,” Gadkari said in the Upper House.
The minister noted that improved connectivity is expected to help ease traffic congestion in key corridors, including areas around Pune and Kolhapur, which experience heavy traffic due to long-distance freight and passenger movement between northern and southern India.