CM Gupta writes to Nitin Gadkari seeking national highway status for Mandi Road
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has written to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, requesting that the 8.8-kilometre Mandi Road in South Delhi be declared a National Highway and placed under the National Highways Authority of India for integrated development. The Chief Minister said that the move would improve connectivity across Delhi-NCR and give momentum to regional economic growth.
In her letter, the Chief Minister said Mandi Road is a key strategic transport corridor that connects Mehrauli-Gurugram Road, National Highway 148A, near Chhatarpur Metro Station, with the Gurugram-Faridabad Road at the Delhi-Haryana border. The road serves as a direct link between the National Capital Territory and the neighbouring economic centres of Gurugram and Faridabad, and plays an important role in inter-state traffic movement between the two states.
She pointed out that the Governing Body of the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure Planning and Engineering Centre, known as UTTIPEC, had at its 68th meeting held on September 27, 2023, recognised the importance of Mandi Road and supported a proposal for its widening and comprehensive development. This existing institutional recognition, she said, provides a basis for taking the proposal forward at the national level.
The Chief Minister said that given the road’s strategic significance, its existing and growing traffic demand, and its direct connectivity with NH-148A, it should be considered for inclusion under NHAI’s jurisdiction.
She requested Gadkari to declare it a National Highway and place its development with NHAI so that an integrated development plan can be prepared, uniform engineering standards applied, and timely upgradation of the corridor ensured.
She said the initiative would provide better and smoother travel for the large number of commuters who use the road daily, particularly those travelling between South Delhi’s Chhatarpur and Mehrauli areas and the Haryana border toward Gurugram and Faridabad. The road currently connects two significant national highway segments, but it is under local jurisdiction, with no single integrated development authority responsible for its condition and upgrade.
The letter follows a pattern of requests from the Delhi government to the Central government for inclusion of key city roads and corridors under National Highway status and NHAI development, which typically brings with it access to Central funding, nationally standardised engineering specifications, and faster execution through NHAI’s project management infrastructure.
Mandi Road’s location in South Delhi places it in one of the capital’s most economically active and rapidly developing zones.