Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, built at a cost of around ₹12,000 crore, will cut travel time to key areas in Uttarakhand and spur a tourism boom in the state. The six-lane, access-controlled highway, which starts from Akshardham in Delhi, was completed after some delays and inaugurated by Modi on Tuesday.
Modi said that the expressway is set to significantly reduce travel time and costs for commuters, leading to substantial fuel savings and lower freight charges. The investments made in infrastructure this decade will help make Uttarakhand a hub for winter tourism and winter sports, he added.
The expressway will become the primary route for key tourist and pilgrimage destinations such as Dehradun, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Mussoorie, and the Char Dham circuit. The corridor, which also passes through cities in Uttar Pradesh such as Ghaziabad, Baghpat, Baraut, Shamli, and Saharanpur, is poised to revitalise these cities, Modi said.
“This is not just a road; it opens new avenues for trade, industry, warehousing, and logistics across the entire region,” he added. The project also features a 12-kilometre elevated section through the Shivalik Forest and Rajaji National Park, which is Asia’s longest wildlife corridor.
A recent study found that the elevated section successfully provides safe passage for animals. Over a 40-day period, 40,444 movements were recorded, attributed to 18 unique wild species utilising the underpass, including various carnivores, herbivores, ungulates, pheasants, and primates.
Union Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said the government has undertaken projects worth more than ₹1.3 trillion in Uttarakhand. Of these, around ₹80,000 crore worth of projects are currently in the approval pipeline.
The expressway is expected to reduce the distance between Delhi and Dehradun by about 37 kilometres and bring down travel time to around 2.5 hours.
The project will also decongest existing routes, which are frequently congested, causing logistical inefficiencies and making commercial movement difficult. Estimates suggest the new route has the potential to reduce logistics costs by 15–20 per cent.
The corridor is part of a larger plan to reduce travel time from the national capital to key industrial and mobility hubs in India. This includes other major projects like the ₹1 trillion Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, which is also nearing completion.
Last year, Gadkari informed Parliament that nearly 18,000 trees were felled for the project. The government has undertaken compensatory afforestation measures, along with avenue plantation of around 51,000 trees by the National Highways Authority of India.
