The 10-km elevated highway at Panipat in Haryana was inaugurated recently at the hands of Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways T.R. Baalu. Lying on NH-1 between km 86 and km 96, the six-lane expressway is expected to decongest the busy Delhi-Amritsar route.
The Rs 325-crore project was developed on BOT basis by a special purpose vehicle L&T Panipat Elevated Corridor Pvt. Ltd. The project for which the foundation stone was laid in April 2006 stands completed six months ahead of schedule. The L&T-promoted SPV will operate the project and collect toll under a 20-year concession period from National Highways Authority of India. Incidentally, the project involved a negative grant (payable to NHAI) of Rs 96.4 crore suggesting the high traffic on the stretch. The new expressway will cut down the traveling time between Delhi and Amritsar to ten minutes from the present 45 minutes.
Features: The features of this access-controlled six-lane highway include separate two-lane peripheral road with paved shoulders on either side for the local traffic. The elevated structure will have 3,048-m viaduct and 360-m ramps, covering central built up at the Panipat section, including the Gohana, Sanauli and Asand road crossings, besides the bus stand and up to the Skylark tourist complex. Three under passes at km. 87, 92 and 93.6 have been provided for the cross traffic.