The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) opened a 244 km section of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway between Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh and Modak in Rajashtan, close to Jhalawar on Wednesday, September 20, 2023.
Several districts in the western part of Madhya Pradesh are covered by the new section of the highway. According to the Times of India, this new road connectivity for the state will open a direct conduit to New Delhi and Mumbai. It will pass through the Madhya Pradesh districts of Jhabua, Mandsaur, and Ratlam and connect major cities like Garoth, Jaora, Ratlam, and Thandla.
The Madhya Pradesh section of the expressway has been broken up into nine packages. This eight-lane state highway travels from Neemthur village on the border with Rajasthan to Timarwani village, which serves as the entry point to Gujarat.
It is not possible to go the entire distance from Jhabua to Delhi on the expressway. Travellers from Jhabua to Delhi must quit the expressway at Modak and take the Ujjain-Kota Tonk Lalsot (old road) in between. To reach Delhi (Sohna Road), vehicles once more have the option of re-entering the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway from the Lalsot on-ramp.
Sarfaraz Khan, in charge of the Timmarwani toll point of Path India Limited, a company authorized by NHAI for toll, says that an average toll of Rs 2 to 2.5 per kilometre will be charged in this zone. Khan says that as soon as the vehicle enters the interchange point, after scanning the Fastag of the vehicle, the scanner will send the details of the vehicle to all the next 7 points, and as soon as you reach the toll point of exit from 8th lane, your vehicle will be automatically checked there. Toll tax will be deducted from your Fastag account according to the distance travelled by the vehicle. The company is currently going to provide facilities like service area, patrolling etc.
It is to be noted that all types of vehicles except bikes, tractors, autos, and harvesters aren’t allowed on the Delhi-Mumbai expressway.
The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway's first leg, a 246-km stretch from Delhi to Dausa to Lalsot (Rajasthan), was officially opened to the public on February 12, 2023. The distance between Delhi and Jaipur was now shorter by two hours. The project is expected to be finished by 2024 and when it is finished, this highway will cross six states: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, and Maharashtra.
