Delhi to Katra in six hours and Amritsar in four? What NHAI’s expressway travel-time targets really mean

NHAI’s September 2026 update calls the Delhi–Amritsar–Katra Expressway an approximately 680-km access-controlled project. The 2022 foundation-stone announcement used 669 km and a cost of about ₹39,500 crore. The difference reflects rounded or updated project scope, so neither number should be presented as a new contradiction without context. (Representative image)

NHAI says the completed expressway is intended to reduce Delhi–Amritsar travel to about four hours and Delhi–Katra travel to about six. These are corridor-level estimates, not guaranteed door-to-door times; traffic, weather, entry roads, stops and the completion status of each package will affect actual journeys. (Representative image)

The greenfield route starts near Nilauthi village in Haryana’s Jhajjar district at the Kundli–Manesar–Palwal Expressway. It then runs north through Haryana and Punjab. Calling the start point “Delhi” is a corridor name; the physical starting junction is outside central Delhi. (Representative image)

Near Nakodar in Punjab, the corridor divides: one branch heads toward Amritsar, while the main northern route continues toward Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Katra. The design lets the same Delhi–Punjab spine serve two major pilgrimage destinations rather than forcing all traffic along one terminus. (Representative image)

The official project announcement names Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadoor Sahib and Tarn Taran among the Sikh religious centres connected by the corridor, alongside the Vaishno Devi destination at Katra. A claimed eight-hour Delhi–Srinagar drive was not substantiated in the cited official project material and has been removed. (Representative image)