The Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway is one of the 10 expressways to be constructed under the Bharatmala Pariyojana. Promoting religious tourism, the expressway will connect Delhi to Vaishnodevi through Katra and to the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway: Project status
The Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway will be ready by 2024 and the government is aiming to complete the project by February/ March 2024 so that the prime minister can inaugurate it before the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
“I will try that the NHAI completes this project before the enforcement of the model code of conduct for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and we get it inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February-March,” said Nitin Gadkari, minister of Road Transport and Highways to media persons.
Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway: Details
The 670-km-Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway is a combination of greenfield and brownfield expressway that passes through the states of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir. The detailed project report (DPR) of the Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway was completed in 2019, after which works started in the form of a survey for land acquisition and the land acquisition process. Currently approved as a four-lane-wide, controlled-access expressway, the Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway can be expanded to eight lanes.
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Present in two parts, the first part of the Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway is a link between the Bahadurgarh border (Delhi) to Katra (Jammu & Kashmir) and will pass through Nakodar and Gurdaspur (both in Punjab). This part is around 397.7 kms long and is National Expressway 5 (NE-5). The second part of the Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway is the 99-km-long connection between Nakodar and Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Raja Sansi, Amritsar. This will be National Expressway 5A (NE-5A).
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Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway: Reduced time and distance
With the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, the distance between Delhi and Katra will be reduced from 747 km to 572 km. The travel time of 14 hours between Delhi and Katra will be reduced to six hours with the construction of the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway. Similarly, the distance between Delhi and Amritsar will be reduced to close to 405 km and the travel time taken will be reduced by half – from eight hours to four hours. Addressing the media in September 2021, Nitin Gadkari, union minister of road transport and highways, mentioned that the Delhi-Katra Expressway will be completed in two years.
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Delhi Amritsar Katra construction work
The NHAI was awarded the construction work of the Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway in April 2021. The work is divided into two phases. Phase 1 is the construction work of the 397.7-km-long Delhi-Nakodar-Gurdaspur section, which is divided into 12 packages and work has been assigned for all of them.
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The construction work for the 99-km-long Nakodar-Amritsar section has been divided into three packages of which two have been awarded and tender for the third package was floated in September 2021. Phase 2 is the Gurdaspur-Katra section which is divided into four packages for which the technical bid was initiated in September 2021. While phase 1 is a greenfield expressway, phase 2 will be a mix of greenfield and brownfield expressways.
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Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway total cost
The Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway is a Rs 47,000-crore project of which a portion of the money will be spent on land acquisition and the remaining on construction.
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Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway public convenience facilities
Several public convenience facilities have been planned on the Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway. The four-lane expressway will include bus depots, truck stops, food courts, recreational joints, trauma centre, ambulance, fire brigades and traffic police stations.
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Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway route map
Source: Draft Environment Impact Assessment Report
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Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway timeline
November 2019: Detailed planned report (DPR) of the Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway is formulated.
June 2020: The Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway map route is finalised. As part of this project, a new greenfield expressway is added to Amritsar. Land acquisition begins in Punjab from the areas of Kang Sahib Rai village near Nakodar up to Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Raja Sansi.
July 2020: Land acquisition begins in Jammu and Kashmir.
April 2021: NHAI gives construction work for the entire stretch of the Delhi-Nakodar-Gurdaspur section. Also, two out of three segments are awarded work on the Nakodar-Amritsar section.
September 2021: Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways, announces that the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway will be completed in two years, i.e., by 2023.
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Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway contact information
NHAI manages the Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway and it can be contacted at
NHAI Headquarters
National Highways Authority Of India
G 5&6, Sector-10, Dwarka, New Delhi-110 075
Phone: 91-011-25074100, 25074200, 25093507, 25093514
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FAQs
Which national expressways are represented by the Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway?
The Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway is made of NE-5 and NE-5A.
When will the Delhi Amritsar Katra be ready for operational purposes?
The Delhi Amritsar Katra expressway will be ready by 2023, as mentioned by the union minister of road transport and highways.
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