Overview
- Nitin Gadkari told the Rajya Sabha the 667‑km corridor will now be delivered in phases through March 2028.
- Contracts for four stretches totaling 147.66 km were foreclosed and put to fresh bids: sections VIII, X, XI and the Amritsar spur section II.
- The longest pushback is Amritsar spur I to March 2028 from an April 2026 target, with spur III moved to February 2027 and mainline section XV to October 2026.
- Five stretches are already complete: sections I–IV in Haryana and section VI in Punjab, with many other segments still under construction.
- Once finished, the project is expected to cut the Delhi–Amritsar distance by about 40 km and reduce travel times to roughly five hours for Amritsar and seven hours for Katra.