The nonstop Delhi-Mumbai drive may have to wait until December 2029. The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway — a 1,386-km flagship project being built at about ₹1.04 lakh crore (yaani ₹1.04 trillion) — is running more than five years behind its original deadline, with work yet to begin on three sections spanning around 90 km in Gujarat, the Times of India reported, in coverage summarised by Curly Tales and Inshorts.

According to the Times of India report, the three Gujarat packages — numbered 8, 9 and 10 — were first awarded to Pune-based Roadway Solutions India Infra Ltd (RSIIL), but the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) terminated the contracts after the company missed project milestones despite multiple extensions, officials said. NHAI is now processing bids for two sections — seven bids for Package 8 (Jujuwa-Gandeva) and six for Package 9 (Karvad-Jujuwa) — while the replacement contractor process for the third is in its final stage. Officials expect bidding to conclude this month and estimate the three sections will take about two years to build once work starts, putting their opening around December 2029.

Package 8 alone shows why the corridor keeps slipping. The 35.4-km Jujuwa-Gandeva stretch in Valsad and Navsari districts is on its fourth bid round in five years, Ease My Prep reported on October 21: first awarded to RSIIL in 2021 under the Hybrid Annuity Model, terminated in March 2023, re-awarded under EPC mode in November 2023 and terminated again, with the balance work only 4.85% complete. The latest lowest bidder, Bhopal-based Bansal Construction Works, declined the letter of award without giving a reason after bidding more than 10% below the ₹1,476-crore estimate, and its bid security of ₹14.76 crore was forfeited. Fresh bids were invited on September 14 with an October 13 deadline; Ease My Prep put the stretch's revised completion target at June 30, 2028, while the Times of India reporting puts the three Gujarat sections' opening around December 2029.

To curb unsustainably low 'aggressive' bidding, NHAI issued a July 15 circular requiring additional performance guarantees from bidders, Ease My Prep reported. Apart from the Gujarat sections, one stretch each in Maharashtra and Rajasthan also remains incomplete; people involved in the project expect those to be ready by April 2027, according to the Times of India reporting. The expressway is designed to cut the Delhi-Mumbai journey to about 12 hours, roughly half the current road time.

Sources: Times of India (via Curly Tales and Inshorts); Ease My Prep.