Cabinet clears ₹6,970-crore six-lane tunnel to connect Dwarka Expressway with south Delhi

The Cabinet on Wednesday approved a ₹6,969.67-crore project to build an 8.1-km six-lane road tunnel connecting Dwarka Expressway with Nelson Mandela Marg in south Delhi.

The project, cleared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), will be implemented on the Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) under the National Highways (Original) scheme.

The project involves construction of NH-148AE linking Dwarka Expressway (NH-248BB) with Nelson Mandela Marg at Vasant Kunj.

The proposed corridor is expected to provide faster travel for commuters from Gurugram, Dwarka, Indira Gandhi International Airport and west Delhi to south Delhi.

"One major long-standing demand in Delhi was better connectivity from the National Highway section to Vasant Kunj. Many efforts had been made in the past, and finally, the proposal that has been approved today is the six-lane Dwarka Tunnel," Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters after the meeting.

The project includes a 3.14-km underground twin-tube tunnel that will pass beneath the Southern Ridge using Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) technology.

“Underground twin-tube tunnel minimizes surface disruption, preserving Southern Ridge Forest,” an official release said, highlighting that 1.98 km tunnel section passes beneath the Ridge.

The tunnel will originate from the Shiv Murti interchange and end near the junction of Nelson Mandela Marg and the Mahipalpur-Chhatarpur Road.

The project also includes a 1.8-km elevated road along Nelson Mandela Marg to decongest the busy intersection.

An additional flyover from Chhatarpur towards Mahipalpur and an elevated U-turn facility have also been planned to improve traffic movement.

The total project length of 8.1 km comprises a 6.3-km main carriageway along with tunnel approach ramps, retaining wall approaches, elevated sections and at-grade roads.

The government said the tunnel project will also integrate with the proposed elevated corridor between AIIMS and Mahipalpur, which is being planned by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

The link is expected to connect with the Barapullah elevated road, providing seamless connectivity between west, south and east Delhi, as well as Ghaziabad and Noida.

The project is expected to generate about 7.54 lakh person-days of direct employment and around 9.8 lakh person-days of indirect employment during construction, the release said.