Delhi-Amritsar-Katra e-way to be completed by March 2028: Gadkari

Among delayed components, 16.9-km Amritsar section has seen longest extension, with completion timeline shifting from April 2026 to March 2028

New Delhi

The 667-km Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway will now be completed in phases up to March 2028, with several stretches facing delays and some contracts being foreclosed and re-tendered, Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

The 667-km Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway will now be completed in phases up to March 2028, with several stretches facing delays and some contracts being foreclosed and re-tendered, Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

The expressway connecting Delhi with Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir is expected to reduce the Delhi-Amritsar distance by around 40 km and cut travel time to about five hours. The journey from Delhi to Katra is expected to take around seven hours once the project is completed.

Gadkari said contracts for four stretches covering 147.66 km have been foreclosed and fresh bids have been invited to complete the work. These include Section VIII (35.09 km), Section X (39.5 km), Section XI (43.02 km) and Amritsar Spur Section II (30.05 km). Following the termination of the earlier contracts, these sections will be executed through a fresh bidding process.

Among the delayed components, Amritsar Spur Section I (16.9 km) has seen the longest extension, with the completion timeline shifting from April 2026 to March 2028. Amritsar Spur Section III (28.07 km) has been pushed from October 2024 to February 2027. On the main corridor, Section XV (35.15 km) has also witnessed a major revision, with its completion now expected in October 2026 instead of September 2024.

Five stretches of the expressway have already been completed. These include Sections I (34 km), II (26.8 km), III (30.6 km) and IV (28.85 km) in Haryana, which were scheduled for completion between December 2023 and January 2024, as well as Section VI (30.91 km) in Punjab that had an earlier completion target of May 2024.

Several other sections are currently under construction but with revised deadlines. Section V (37.67 km) and Section VII (36.94 km) are now expected to be completed by March 2026, while Section IX (43.04 km) has been pushed to June 2026. Sections XIV (44.6 km) and XVI (20.39 km) are also likely to be completed by June 2026, the minister said.

Section XV (35.15 km) is expected to be ready by October 2026, while Sections XVII (28.92 km) and XVIII (15.3 km) have revised timelines of September 2026 and August 2026, respectively. Section XII (35.28 km) is now expected to be completed by February 2027, Gadkari informed the Rajya Sabha.

The expressway is being developed to improve connectivity between the national capital, Punjab and the pilgrimage town of Katra in Jammu & Kashmir.