Tharad: The proposed Tharad-Ahmedabad Expressway, approved by the Central Government last year, is a strategically vital infrastructure project aimed at bridging two of India’s key corridors—the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and the Amritsar-Jamnagar Expressway, which are nearing completion. Though ambitious in scope and vital for national connectivity, this greenfield expressway is currently stalled due to complex land acquisition hurdles.

Planned under the Bharatmala Pariyojana, the expressway will span approximately 214 kilometers, beginning at Vajegadh village in Tharad taluka of Banaskantha district and ending at Bhuwal village in Daskroi taluka of Ahmedabad district. It is designed to be a 6- to 8-lane access-controlled highway, crossing through 103 villages across five districts — Banaskantha, Patan, Mehsana, Gandhinagar, and Ahmedabad — and 14 talukas. The Tharad-Ahmedabad Expressway will connect directly with National Expressway 1 (Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway) and indirectly support movement towards the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, Surat-Chennai corridor, and the northern border regions via the Amritsar-Jamnagar Expressway.

More than just a regional link, this expressway is planned as a feeder high-speed corridor to support military and logistic mobilization in times of national emergencies. The Amritsar-Jamnagar Expressway, which runs almost parallel to the Pakistan border, will be better connected through this project, enabling quicker troop and supply movement from southern regions to the northern frontier. This underlines the expressway’s importance not just from a transport perspective but also in terms of national defense logistics.

Despite its strategic importance, the project is marred by massive land acquisition issues. The alignment demands over 1,930 hectares of land, including around 11 hectares of forest land. With non-forest land to be acquired at around 1,919 hectares, many local farmers have raised objections, citing inadequate compensation and demanding either better rates or cancellation of land acquisition altogether. The project has already faced multiple legal roadblocks, with several writ petitions filed in the courts. Public protests, applications to collector offices, and small-scale rallies have further highlighted the discontent in affected villages.

Earlier tenders were issued for construction but were later cancelled due to unresolved land issues. As of now, no fresh tenders have been floated. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which is executing the project, is currently stuck at the land acquisition stage. The estimated cost of the project was initially pegged at ₹10,621.71 crore, though this figure is likely to rise with delays and revised compensation models.

The highway project has been divided into six packages:

Package I: Tharad to Deodar (Km 0+000 to Km 43+500)

Package II: Deodar to Patan (Km 43+500 to Km 71+050)

Package III: Patan to Mehsana (Km 71+050 to Km 105+800)

Package IV: Mehsana to Gojariya (Km 105+800 to Km 133+600)

Package V: Gojariya to Gandhinagar (Km 133+600 to Km 173+500)

Package VI: Gandhinagar to Ahmedabad (Km 173+500 to Km 213+803)

Around 13 interchanges are proposed to link this expressway with various state and national highways. The project includes construction of 23 major bridges, 58 minor bridges, 8 railway overbridges, and 30 flyovers across all six packages.

Being a true greenfield project, the Tharad-Ahmedabad Expressway will be built entirely on new alignment, unlike brownfield upgrades. Once operational, it promises to drastically reduce travel time between North and Central-Southern Gujarat, ease traffic on existing corridors, and unlock new economic opportunities for local communities. DeshGujarat