Amritsar–Jamnagar Expressway

Amritsar–Jamnagar Expressway[3] (NH-754A) is an under-construction 1,257 km long, 6-lane wide expressway in the north-western part of India. The expressway will reduce the distance between Amritsar and Jamnagar from earlier 1,430 km to 1,316 km (including Kapurthala-Amritsar section) and the time travel from 26 hours to only 13 hours. It is a part of the Bharatmala and Amritsar–Jamnagar Economic Corridor (EC-3). It will pass through four states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Amritsar–Jamnagar Expressway
Map
Amritsar–Jamnagar Expressway (Rajasthan Section) in red
Route information
Maintained by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)
Length1,256.95 km (781.03 mi)
Existed8 July 2023 (HanumangarhJalore section)
December 2025 (full completion)[1][2]–present
Major junctions
North endTibba, Kapurthala, Punjab
South endJamnagar, Gujarat
Location
CountryIndia
StatesPunjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat
Major citiesAmritsar, Goindwal Sahib, Sultanpur Lodhi, Moga, Bathinda, Mandi Dabwali, Hanumangarh, Suratgarh, Bikaner, Nagaur, Jodhpur, Barmer and Jamnagar
Highway system

The expressway is strategically important, as it will connect 3 big oil refineries of HMEL Bathinda, HPCL Barmer and RIL Jamnagar. It will also connect Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (Bathinda) and Suratgarh Super Thermal Power Plant (Sri Ganganagar).

The expressway will meet the Ludhiana-Bathinda-Ajmer Expressway of the Pathankot–Ajmer Economic Corridor at Bathinda.[4] The construction work on the expressway started in Haryana and Rajasthan in 2019. The Rajasthan section of the expressway from Jakhrawali in Hanumangarh district to Khetlawas in Jalore district was completed in early 2023 and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 July 2023, while the entire expressway is expected to be opened by December 2025.[1][5]

Background

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This expressway is a part of Bharatmala's Phase-I, which is funded by the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) in phases.[6]

Route

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The expressway will be the first expressway in India, connecting three oil refineries of Bathinda, Barmer and Jamnagar. The Barmer Refinery is set to be completed by March 2023.[citation needed] Nearly 50% of the length of the expressway, i.e, 637 km falls under Rajasthan. The total project value including the land acquisition cost is nearly 80,000 crores.[7]

Route summary by state

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Punjab

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In Punjab, it will start at Tibba village in Kapurthala district on Delhi–Amritsar–Katra Expressway (NE-5A), and will end near Punjab-Haryana border in Bathinda district on NH-54. The expressway on the Tibba–Moga–Bathinda stretch was re-planned by the NHAI to make it a greenfield expressway.

Haryana

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In Haryana, it will run entirely in the Sirsa district and it will not be access controlled. It will enter at Mandi Dabwali and exit at Haryana/Rajasthan border at Chautala village.

      • Southwest of Dabwali near Alika on SH34 Dabwali-Ellenabad highway.
    • Sakta Khera

Rajasthan

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In Rajasthan, it will enter through the Sangaria town in Hanumangarh district. From there it will pass through Bikaner district, Jodhpur district and Barmer district, before exiting Rajasthan at Sanchore town in Jalore district.

Gujarat

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In Gujarat, it will enter at Vantdau in Banaskantha district, run through Patan district. From there the existing National Highway Network takes the route to Kutch district and Morbi district before finally ending at Jamnagar district.

Route summary by sections

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The construction work of the expressway has been divided into 8 sections (5 greenfield alignment and 3 brownfield upgrades). With a total of 30 construction packages each with a construction period of 2 years. The projects is expected to be completed by September 2023.

Sr No Section Length in km No. of packages States Lanes Access controlled Greenfield Comments
1. Tibba (Kapurthala)–Sangat Kalan (Bathinda) 155 3 Punjab 6 Yes Yes This section is also called the "Amritsar–Bathinda Expressway". Initial plan of 196 km brownfield upgrade of NH-54 was changed to greenfield project in 2020.
2. Sangat Kalan (Bathinda)–Chautala (Sirsa) 85 - Punjab & Haryana 6 No No Existing 2-lane NH-54 will be upgraded to 6-lane.
3. Sangaria (Hanumangarh)–Rasisar (Bikaner) 252 9 Rajasthan 6 Yes Yes Sangaria (NH-54 - Tibbi - Rawatsar (SH-36) - Bijarasar (southeast of Pallu on SH-7) - Kalu (SH-64 - Bikaner (Saruna on NH-11 and Rasisar on Sangaria) (NH-64)
4. Rasisar (Bikaner)–Deogarh (Jodhpur) 176 6 Rajasthan 6 Yes Yes Panchu (between Phalodi-Nokha) - Chadi (on SH-19 between Phaloudi-Nagaur) - Osian (SH-61 between Phalodi-Jodhpur) - Jodhpur (Deogarh on NH-125
5. Deogarh (Jodhpur)–Sanchore (Jalore) 209 8 Rajasthan 6 Yes Yes Deogarh - Kalyanpur (on NH-25 between Pachpadra-Jodhpur) - Samdari (on SH-68 between Balotra-Jodhpur) - Siwana (on NH-325 between Balotra-Jalore) - Mohni Khera (on SH-16 between Barmer-Jalore) - Sanchore (SH-11 and NH-168A)
6. Vantdau (Banaskantha)–Santalpur (Patan) 125 4 Gujarat 6 Yes Yes Vantdau (on NH-168) - Uchpa (SH128) - Vav (NH-68) - Suigam (SH-861) - Dudosan (SH-127) - Santalpur (NH-27 between Radhanpur and Adesar)
7. Santalpur (Patan)–Malia (Morbi) 124 - Gujarat 4 No No Minor upgrades to the existing 4-lane NH-27 from Santalpur-Samakhiali-Malia.
8. Malia (Morbi)–Jamnagar 131 - Gujarat 4 No No Minor upgrades to the existing 4-lane NH-947.
Total 1,257 30 4 States 6-lanes, 4-lanes 5-Yes, 3-No 5-Yes, 3-No

As related but separate projects, from Samakhiali the existing highways Samakhiali-Bhachau-Bhimasar-Gandhidham-Mundra, Bhachau-Bhuj, Bhimasar-Anjar-Ratnal-Bhuj will also be upgraded to provide connectivity to other ports and cities.

Construction

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The NHAI has awarded the construction work in 30 packages (stretches) to various construction companies. The list of contractors is as follows:

Sr. No. Name of Contractor Length in km No. of packages
1. CDS Infra Projects 31 1 in Gujarat
2. Dineshchandra R. Agrawal Infracon (DRA) 24 1 in Rajasthan
3. Gawar Construction 30 1 in Rajasthan
4. GR Infraprojects 39 1 in Punjab
5. JiangXi Construction – MKC Infrastructure JV 27 1 in Rajasthan
6. Krishna Construction 172 4 (2 in Punjab & 2 in Rajasthan)
7. Lakshmi Infrastructure & Developers 90 3 in Rajasthan
8. NG Projects 28 1 in Rajasthan
9. NKC Projects 170 6 in Rajasthan
10. Raj Shyama Constructions 27 1 in Rajasthan
11. Raj Shyama Constructions - RCC Developers JV 28 1 in Rajasthan
12. Ravi Infrabuild Projects 32 1 in Gujarat
13. VRC - VCL - CIL JV 30 1 in Rajasthan
14. VRC Constructions - S&P Infrastructure Developers JV 25 1 in Rajasthan

Note: As of 28 July 2021, contracts for 6 out of total of 30 packages in pending.

Status updates

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  • Oct 2018: Detailed Project Report (DPR) is completed. The expressway will connect 3 oil refineries of Bathinda, Barmer and Jamnagar.
  • Jul 2019: The NIIF will be financing the project.[8]
  • Oct 2019: NHAI invites bids for the various phases of the expressway.[9]
  • Aug 2020: The expressway will be ready before March 2023.[10]
  • Oct 2020: Land acquisition starts for Amritsar–Bathinda greenfield stretch of the expressway.[11]
  • Feb 2021: The construction work of the expressway will begin in April 2021.[12]
  • April 2022: The construction works started on all the 30 packages would be completed within 2 years.
  • May 2022: Out of the expressway's 155-km stretch from Amritsar to Bathinda, work is going on in an advanced stage, and the 762-km stretch from Sangaria in Rajasthan to Santalpur in Gujarat, out of which 400 km is completed, while the remaining portion is under construction. The expressway is now expected to be completed by September 2023.[13]
  • Jul 2023: The expressway's Rajasthan section from Jakhrawali in Hanumangarh district to Khetlawas in Jalore district has been completed and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 July 2023.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Gupta, Shobhit (8 July 2023). "PM Modi inaugurates 6-lane greenfield expressway of Amritsar-Jamnagar Economic Corridor: Details here". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Amritsar–Jamnagar expressway to be completed by Sep 2023: Gadkari". Business Standard. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  3. ^ Manchanda, Megha (10 July 2019). "NHAI in talks with NIIF to fund proposed Amritsar to Jamnagar highway". Business Standard India – via Business Standard.
  4. ^ 5 New Greenfield Highways To Cut Travel Time Planned: All You Need To Know, /www.thebetterindia.com.
  5. ^ "Amritsar-Jamnagar expressway to be completed by Sep 2023: Gadkari". Business Standard. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  6. ^ zfaridi. "NIIF to fund 1,430-km Amritsar-Jamnagar highway project". www.nbmcw.com. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Construction of Amritsar Jamnagar Expressway to start soon".
  8. ^ "NIIF to fund Amritsar Jamnagar Expressway". Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  9. ^ "NHAI invites bids for Amritsar Jamnagar Expressway".
  10. ^ "Construction of 23 new highways to be completed by March 2025: NHAI". Construction Week Online. 17 August 2020.
  11. ^ "23 new expressways and highways coming up in next 5 years | India News". The Times of India.
  12. ^ "Construction of Amritsar-Jamnagar Expressway to start from April". The Tribune. 1 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Amritsar-Jamnagar expressway to be completed by Sep 2023: Gadkari". Business Standard. Retrieved 20 May 2022.