India
Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway: The residents of Delhi always have to think twice before visiting Vaishno Devi, largely because of traffic or weather issues. However, this problem will soon go away with the new expressway that is being built from Delhi to Katra via Amritsar.
Updated : Mar 22, 2023, 11:40 AM IST | Edited by : Riddhima Kanetkar
Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway: The residents of Delhi always have to think twice before visiting Vaishno Devi, largely because of traffic or weather issues. However, this problem will soon go away with the new expressway that is being built from Delhi to Katra via Amritsar.
This 670-kilometer-long 4-lane expressway will connect many religious places in the country. After the expressway becomes operational, the people of Delhi can reach Amritsar in 4 hours and Katra in 6 hours. It will take only 8 hours to reach Srinagar. In August 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway.
Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway will also be connected to Dera Baba Nanak and Kartarpur Corridor. With the construction of the new expressway, the distance between Delhi and Katra will be reduced from 727 km to 588 km. As of now, it takes 14 hours to reach Katra from Delhi.
Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway starts from Kundli Manesar Palwal (KMP) Expressway near Nilothi village in the Jhajjar district of Haryana. It will go to Amritsar and Katra via Jind, Sangrur, Malerkotla, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, and Gurdaspur. The expressway will be connected to the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway (NH 44) under construction.
Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway is being built in two phases
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is constructing the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway in two phases with 20 packages. Phase 1, the greenfield project, Delhi-Nakodar-Gurdaspur, is 397 km long and is divided into 12 packages. Phase 2 is a greenfield and brownfield project covering 99 km from Gurdaspur to Katra. It is divided into five packages.
Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway: Features
The expressway will connect major religious areas like Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadoor Sahib, Tarn Taran, and Vaishno Devi. For the convenience of passengers, facilities like refreshments, trauma center, ambulance, fire brigade, traffic police, bus bay and truck stop will be available on the expressway.