Delhi–Amritsar–Katra Expressway

Delhi–Amritsar–Katra Expressway is an approved 670 km (420 mi) long, 4-lane (expandable to 8 lanes) wide controlled-access expressway, which will connect Bahadurgarh border near Delhi with Katra in Jammu and Kashmir via Haryana and Punjab. It will have a spur section which will connect Nakodar with Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport located in Raja Sansi, Amritsar. The 397.7 km (247.1 mi) long Delhi–Katra Expressway is National Expressway 5 (NE-5) and 99 km (62 mi) long Nakodar-Amritsar Expressway is National Expressway 5A (NE-5A). Once completed, it will reduce the current Delhi-Katra distance from 727 km (452 mi) to 588 km (365 mi) and the time travel will be reduced from 14 hours to 6 hours, and Delhi-Amritsar distance to 405 km (252 mi) and from the time travel will be reduced from 8 hours to only 4 hours.
It will have a trauma centre, ambulances, fire brigades, traffic police, bus bays, truck stops, interchanges with refreshment, and recreational facilities. To be constructed as a part of the Bharatmala Pariyojana, it is expected to cost ₹40,000 crores. Detailed Project Report (DPR) was completed in November 2019, and land acquisition commenced from January 2020. M/S Feedback Infra Pvt Ltd. was appointed as DPR consultant to carry out alignment studies which submitted the final shortest proposed alignment report of Delhi–Nakodar–Gurdaspur section in September 2019, Nakodar–Amritsar section in June 2020, and the survey is currently under progress in Jammu section. It is part of Ludhiana-Delhi-Kolkata Industrial Corridor. There are 11 National industrial corridors and numerous state level industrial corridors in India.
It is a combination of greenfield and brownfield expressway which passes through Haryana, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir. It starts from Kundli Manesar Palwal (KMP) Expressway near Nilauthi village in Jhajjar district. It will lessen the workload of Grand Trunk Road. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of the NDA government planned to construct ten expressways in the country under Bharatmala Pariyojana, one of which would connect the national capital Delhi with Katra and Amritsar via Kharkhoda, Jind, Sangrur, Malerkotla, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Gurdaspur.
The Greenfield expressway splits into two near Nakodar. One greenfield section towards Amritsar would pass nearby Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadoor Sahib, TarnTarn and ends near Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport. The second section goes straight to Katra through Gurdaspur, bypassing Kathua and Jammu, and it consists of both greenfield and brownfield parts. Central and state governments also agreed to connect Dera Baba Nanak and Kartarpur Corridor with this expressway project. Nearly 14,000 acres of land in Punjab and 5,000 acres of Haryana will be acquired to construct these expressways. .
The NHAI has divided the construction work of Delhi–Amritsar–Katra Expressway into 2 phases with a total of 21 construction packages.
The Phase-1 of Delhi–Amritsar–Katra Expressway consists of two sections, namely Delhi–Nakodar–Gurdaspur (NE-5) and Nakodar–Amritsar (NE-5A). The Phase-2 consists of Gurdaspur–Katra section. Following is the alignment agreed by the Governments of Haryana, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir with the NHAI.
Alignment is from Nilothi-Kharkhoda–Gohana (west)–Jind (east)–Safidon (west)–Ratoli (Ambala–Narnaul)–Assandh (west)–Kalayat–Kaithal (west)–Barta. There is a proposal to extend it in Delhi from Nilothi to "Urban Extension Road II".
First greenfield expressway spur (99 km long) from Nakodar to Amritsar through Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadur Sahib, Tarn Taran Sahib and ends at Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport (Amritsar Airport).
Second greenfield expressway spur from Nakodar to Katra passing through Kartarpur, Gurdaspur, and Dinanagar.
Following provide the inter-connectivity: