Cabinet Approves ₹14,115 Crore Highway Projects, ₹6,970 Crore Dwarka Tunnel
Major infrastructure projects receive Cabinet approval.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved two major national highway projects with a combined investment of Rs 14,115 crore. The projects include a Rs 6,969.67 crore six-lane tunnel connecting the Dwarka Expressway with Vasant Kunj in Delhi and a Rs 7,145 crore four-lane access-controlled highway between Kanpur and Kabrai in Uttar Pradesh. The Centre said the projects are aimed at improving connectivity, reducing travel time, easing traffic congestion, and supporting economic growth through enhanced road infrastructure.
The Delhi project involves the construction of an 8.1-km six-lane tunnel on NH-148AE under the Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) as part of the National Highways (Original) scheme. The tunnel will connect the Dwarka Expressway and Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II) with Nelson Mandela Marg in Vasant Kunj, significantly improving connectivity between West and South Delhi. The alignment will begin at the Shiv Murti Interchange and end before the junction of Nelson Mandela Marg and the Mahipalpur-Chhatarpur Road, providing a faster route for commuters travelling from Gurugram, Dwarka, Indira Gandhi International Airport and West Delhi towards South Delhi.
A key feature of the project is its passage beneath the environmentally sensitive Southern Delhi Ridge through a twin-tube tunnel built using Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) technology. Nearly 1.98 km of the tunnel will pass underneath the forest area to minimise ecological disturbance. The project also includes a 1.8-km elevated corridor along Nelson Mandela Marg, a new flyover connecting Chhatarpur to Mahipalpur, and an elevated U-turn facility to improve traffic movement. Once completed, the tunnel will integrate with the proposed AIIMS-Mahipalpur elevated corridor and eventually connect to the Barapullah elevated corridor, enhancing links between Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad.
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The Cabinet also approved the construction of a four-lane access-controlled highway between Kanpur and Kabrai in Uttar Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 7,145 crore. The project is expected to strengthen road connectivity in the region, facilitate smoother movement of passenger and freight traffic, and improve access between industrial and commercial centres. Officials said the new highway will reduce travel time, support regional economic development, and enhance the efficiency of the national highway network in Uttar Pradesh.
According to the government, the two projects represent a significant investment in India's transport infrastructure and are expected to generate substantial employment during the construction phase. Estimates suggest that every lane-kilometre of national highway construction creates around 264 person-days of direct employment and 55 person-days of indirect employment. Based on these projections, the Delhi tunnel project alone is expected to generate approximately 7.54 lakh person-days of direct employment and 9.8 lakh person-days of indirect employment, while also boosting economic activity and improving connectivity across the National Capital Region.
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