The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the construction of a six-lane road tunnel in Delhi to connect Dwarka Expressway with Nelson Mandela Marg at Vasant Kunj.
The project will be developed on NH-148AE with a total project length of 8.1 km and a total capital cost of ₹6,969.67 crore.
According to a statement by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the project will be implemented on Hybrid Annuity Mode under the NH(O) scheme.
The road tunnel will connect Dwarka Expressway, also referred to as NH-248BB, with Nelson Mandela Marg in South Delhi.
The project is expected to provide faster connectivity between West Delhi and South Delhi by linking the Urban Extension Road-II/Dwarka Expressway side with Vasant Kunj.
The ministry said the corridor will benefit traffic moving from Gurugram, Dwarka, IGI Airport and West Delhi towards South Delhi.
The proposed tunnel will pass through the Rangpuri section of the Southern Delhi Ridge.
It has been planned as an underground twin-tube tunnel and will be constructed using Tunnel Boring Machines.
The tunnel will take off from the Shiv Murti Interchange and terminate before the intersection of Nelson Mandela Marg and Mahipalpur-Chhatarpur Road.
According to the statement, 1.98 km of the tunnel section will pass beneath the Southern Ridge.
The ministry said the underground twin-tube tunnel will minimise surface disruption and help preserve the Southern Ridge forest.
The main carriageway length of the project will be 6.3 km. The total project length of 8.1 km includes 3.14 km of tunnel, 0.98 km of tunnel approach ramp, 0.554 km of approach with reinforced earth wall, 2.556 km of elevated portion and 0.87 km of at-grade road.
To reduce congestion at the Nelson Mandela Marg and Mahipalpur-Chhatarpur Road intersection, an elevated road of 1.8 km has also been proposed along Nelson Mandela Marg.
An additional flyover from Chhatarpur towards Mahipalpur is also proposed along the existing flyover.
An elevated U-turn has been planned to facilitate right-turn traffic towards Chhatarpur.
The ministry said NHAI is also proposing an elevated corridor between AIIMS and Mahipalpur. This link will connect the tunnel with the Barapullah elevated road, creating a wider connection between West Delhi, South Delhi, East Delhi, Ghaziabad and Noida.
The project is also expected to generate employment during construction.
The ministry estimated that the development of each lane-kilometre of National Highway generates an average of 264 person-days of direct employment and 55 person-days of indirect employment.
On that basis, the project is expected to generate close to 7.54 lakh person-days of direct employment and 9.80 lakh person-days of indirect employment.
