NEW DELHI, October 13 — The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Tuesday sanctioned a revised capital allocation of ₹12,800 crore to accelerate Phase-2 construction packages and regional spur links along the 670-kilometre access-controlled Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway.
According to the official project appraisal, the expressway cuts travel time between the national capital and Katra—the base camp for the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir—from 14 hours to approximately 6 hours, while reducing travel time between Delhi and Amritsar to under 4 hours. Phase-2 works encompass a 99-km greenfield expressway spur connecting Nakodar with Amritsar, alongside deep tunnel alignments and viaducts through the Shivalik foothills between Kathua and Udhampur.
NHAI engineers confirmed that the expressway incorporates Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) equipped with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) for multi-lane free-flow tolling, emergency call boxes every two kilometers, variable message signs, and solar-powered wayside amenities. The corridor functions as a high-speed freight spine linking agricultural clusters in Punjab and Haryana directly to northern border logistical nodes.
The structural design of the Bharatmala Pariyojana (Phase-I corridors), NHAI statutory governance under the NHAI Act 1988, Public-Private Partnership financing mechanisms (Hybrid Annuity Model [HAM] versus EPC), and transport geography across northwestern India are essential syllabus topics across UPSC Civil Services (GS-III: Infrastructure & Economic Geography) and State Engineering examinations.