India has opened the third package of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, which links Dasna in Ghaziabad to Hapur in Western Uttar Pradesh (UP) state.

The Delhi-Meerut Expressway package-3 was inaugurated by Indian Road Transport and Highways Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. It aims to lower pollution and relieve congestion, cutting travel time at the National Capital Region by over an hour.

The 22.23km-long third package was built with an estimated cost of over Rs19.89bn ($281.75m).

The construction work included a six-lane NH 24 section with 2+2 lane service roads on either side from Dasna to Hapur and a 4.68km-long six-lane elevated corridor at Pilkhuwa.

It involved building several underpasses, a bridge across Upper Ganga Canal, seven new minor bridges and a flyover at the Hapur bypass.

It features 11 vehicle and two pedestrian underpasses, two pedestrian overbridges and six major and 105 minor junctions respectively.

The 82km-long Delhi-Meerut Expressway project is implemented in four packages. The first package, which was completed last year, is an 8.72km-long six-lane expressway from Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi to the Ghazipur border.

A 19.28km-long six-lane expressway / eight-lane NH 24 package-2 links the Ghazipur border to Dasna in UP. It is currently 60% completed.

Currently 57% complete, the fourth package is a 31.78km-long greenfield six-lane expressway from Hapur to Meerut.

Built at an estimated cost of Rs83.46bn ($1.18bn), the Delhi-Meerut Expressway links Delhi with Meerut in western Uttar Pradesh.