Delhi-Mumbai Expressway: Mukundra Tunnel Excavation Nearing Completion

The longest tunnel on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, passing through Rajasthan's Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR), is nearing completion.

This eight-lane tunnel, a first in India, consists of two parallel tubes with four lanes each, spanning 4.9 km. It includes a 3.3 km underground section and a 1.6 km cut-and-cover section. On March 7, 2025, a breakthrough ceremony for Tube-1 (Kota to Chechat) marked the completion of its excavation.

A senior NHAI official confirmed that while Tube-1 is fully excavated, 60 meters of work remain in Tube-2 (Chechat to Kota), expected to finish within a month. Additional excavation will follow to expand certain sections. The excavation phase is set to conclude by June 2024, after which road construction and system installations—such as lighting, sensors, pollution control, SCADA, and AI-based monitoring—will begin. The tunnel is slated for completion by December 2025.

The 1,350 km Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, designed for future expansion to 12 lanes, has already opened 327 km of its 373 km stretch in Rajasthan to toll-paying traffic. However, full operational functionality depends on the completion of interchanges.

News by Rahul Yelligetti.