India to issue tenders for Delhi-Meerut Expressway

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will soon issue tenders to build the Delhi-Meerut expressway.The project is estimated to cost about INR45bn ($1bn) and involves building a 64km long Delhi-Meerut expressway.

The first 8km of the expressway from Nizamuddin Bridge to Ghaziabad border will have 16 lanes.The project also includes building a 28km expressway NH-24 between Ghaziabad border and Dasna, which will be widened to 14 lanes from the current six lanes and a 36-km stretch between Dasna and Meerut to be constructed as a four-lane highway.Upon completion, the expressway will reduce travel time from Delhi to Meerut to 45 minutes from two-and-a-half hours.NHAI intends to award the project by November this year, much behind its schedule of last year.The NHAI has already commenced the land acquisition process for the project, which is scheduled to be completed by 2015.