New Delhi: Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari in a reply in the Lok Sabha stated that Delhi to Vadodara stretch of Delhi – Mumbai Expressway will open to traffic by May 2026.

This means that the journey from Delhi to Vadodara will be possible by mid of current calendar year. It’s worth noting that the stretch between Gujarat – Madhya Pradesh border to Vadodara is not opened for traffic yet due to less than half a dozen obstructions, including that of presence of a power pole, power line and land-sliding issue.

‘The Project of Delhi Mumbai has been divided into total 48 packages having a length of about 1350 km. About 875 km length of Expressway has been opened to traffic. As of now, the cost of implementation is within sanctioned cost of overall Corridor,’ Gadkari told lower house of parliament in reply to Congress member Varsha Gaikwad’s question.

‘Some of the packages got delayed due to issues relating to land acquisition, delay in tree cutting permission, delay in Utility Shifting and Concessionaire default,’ the minister further said.

Gadkari however stated that the stretch of Delhi – Mumbai Expressway from Vadodara to Mumbai will find delay in completion across three packages in Gujarat (Gandeva to Vapi) and will complete only by April 2028.

He said: ‘The revised scheduled date for completion for the section from Delhi to Vadodara is May, 2026 and for the section from Vadodara to Mumbai is June, 2026 except works in 3 packages in Gujarat which are targeted for completion in Financial Year 2027-28.’

It’s worth noting that as of February 2026, the stretch connecting Vadodara to Gandeva (near Navsari) is opened for traffic in Gujarat on Delhi – Mumbai Expressway. While Gandeva to Valsad and Valsad to Vapi stretches have witnessed very slow pace of work are likely to complete in late 2027 or early 2028(calendar year), the stretch between Bharuch and Kim has one powerpole present on the road itself, however a bypass is created and the stretch has been opened for traffic. DeshGujarat