Bandikui-Jaipur Expressway open to public, cuts Delhi-Jaipur travel time to 3 hours

The Bandikui-Jaipur Expressway, part of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, is designed for high-speed travel, with maximum speed limit of 120 km/h: NHAI official

Gurugram: The Bandikui-Jaipur Expressway — part of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway — has been opened to the public, significantly slashing travel time between Delhi-NCR and Jaipur in Rajasthan.

The 66.91-kilometre-long Bandikui-Jaipur Expressway was constructed at a cost of ₹1,368 crore. (HT PHOTO)

The new route, opened to commuters on July 15 after safety checks, is expected to reduce Delhi-Jaipur travel time to just two-and-a-half to three hours under normal conditions, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials said.

For Amit Yadav, a Gurugram-based IT consultant, it took three-and-a-half hours to reach Jaipur instead of the usual five to five-and-a-half hours using the Bandikui-Jaipur Expressway. “Last weekend, we drove down to my in-laws’ house in Jaipur. We took the new route and the entire journey was incredibly smooth—no heavy vehicles, no city traffic, no bottlenecks. We left at 7 am and reached our destination before 10:30 am,” Yadav said.

Similarly, Pallavi Mehra, a Delhi-based marketing executive, took the new route to visit her parents in Jaipur. “I had heard that the route was partially open, but I didn’t know it is fully operational now. Last Saturday we took the new route, and it felt like a completely different experience. The old NH-48 was full of traffic and diversions, but this new expressway felt like an airport runway,” Mehra, who visits her parents in Jaipur every fortnight, said.

“This section—from Sohna (Haryana) to Maujmabad via Bandikui (Rajasthan)—is a vital link in the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway corridor. It was fully opened to the public after all safety checks and road signage were completed,” a senior NHAI official, requesting anonymity, said.

The 66.91-kilometre-long Bandikui-Jaipur Expressway was constructed at a cost of ₹1,368 crore.

According to NHAI, more than 15,000 vehicles are using the new stretch daily, and the number is expected to rise as more people become aware. The expressway is designed for high-speed travel, with a maximum speed limit of 120 km/h, the NHAI official said.