Delhi–Dehradun Expressway completion delayed till February 2026, says official
The 210-km Delhi–Dehradun Expressway, being built at a cost of ₹11,868.6 crore, is now expected to open to the public by February 2026, well beyond its initial completion target of December 2024, a senior official aware of the development said.
The expressway, which aims to reduce travel time between Delhi and Dehradun from around six hours to just two-and-a-half hours, was earlier targeted for completion by October 2025, according to a response in the Rajya Sabha in July.
The official said the new completion target was set for February 2026 after the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) directed the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to inaugurate the project once all the phases are complete.
The first stretch from the Delhi side — Akshardham through Geeta Colony, Shastri Park, Mandola Vihar in Ghaziabad, to Khekra in Baghpat — has been ready for over six months. Earlier, on September 8, a day when Delhi saw localised flooding, many two-wheeler users from the Akshardham side had removed the barriers to use the expressway to avoid traffic snarls.
Even a majority of the second phase, starting near Baghpat and extending up to Saharanpur, is nearly complete, with finishing work underway on a few stretches. The third phase, which involves widening the existing brownfield section from Saharanpur Bypass to Ganeshpur, is also in advanced stages of construction.
In the fourth phase, there are some precautionary and finishing works on the elevated section near Dehradun. According to a National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) official, precautionary measures were taken up in monsoon due to flooding in a seasonal river. He added that the remaining works — including protection measures near the Daat Kali temple in Dehradun, installation of mobile towers, and works for finishing the tunnel — are expected to be completed in November.
The project’s foundation stone was first laid by Union minister Nitin Gadkari on February 26, 2021, and later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid another foundation stone on December 4, 2021. Starting from Akshardham in Delhi, the expressway runs via Baghpat, Baraut, Shamli, and Saharanpur.
A key feature of the project is its 12-km elevated corridor passing through Rajaji National Park — making it Asia’s longest such stretch — along with six animal underpasses. The expressway also includes over 100 underpasses, five railway overbridges, and will link with the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway, the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, and routes to Haridwar and Roorkee.
The expressway had faced criticism for widespread deforestation since the time of its conception. In the Rajya Sabha reply in July, MoRTH had said 17,913 trees were felled or transplanted for the projects. However, the NHAI said 50,600 trees are being planted within the right-of-way and ₹40 crore was given to UP and Uttarakhand forest departments for it. In March, the National Green Tribunal fined the NHAI for failing to furnish details of afforestation.
