The Ahmedabad to Dholera expressway was open to the public for testing a month before it was inaugurated
A Press Information Bureau release of 27 February 2026 from the road transport ministry states that the expressway had been opened to the public for testing purposes while final operational readiness was assessed, five weeks before the inauguration on 31 March 2026.
Confirmed by an official document: a government release, a filing, or the company's own published statement.
The same release is the most detailed public description of the road that exists. It gives the length as 109.019 kilometres, the total project cost as Rs 5,800 crore, and lists 3 rail overbridges, 11 interchanges, 14 flyovers, 86 underpasses and 224 culverts. The median is 30 metres wide and designed to allow future expansion to eight lanes, and a parallel corridor for the semi high-speed railway already has its 30 metre right of way acquired. There is a direct interchange to the airport at chainage 67.
Two details are worth pulling out. The road reuses 60 lakh tonnes of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation waste and 22 lakh tonnes of fly ash in its embankment. And it gives Ahmedabad to Dholera as 83 kilometres in 45 minutes by road, against 100 kilometres and 2 hours 15 minutes before. That 45 minutes is a road figure and should not be confused with the 45 minute rail journey time quoted for the approved railway line, which is a separate claim about a line that does not exist yet.
This wire already carries an entry on the 31 March inauguration, sourced to press coverage. This entry is a different date, a different fact and a primary source, so it runs separately and the two are cross-linked.
PIB release 2233516 of 27 February 2026 from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways describes the Ahmedabad-Dholera Greenfield Expressway (NE-8) as 109.019 km under Bharatmala Pariyojana, built at a total project cost of Rs 5,800 crore, and states that at that date 'the expressway has been opened to the public for testing purposes... while final operational readiness is assessed'. It lists 3 ROBs, 11 interchanges, 14 flyovers, 86 underpasses and 224 culverts, a 30 metre median designed for future expansion to eight lanes, direct connectivity to Dholera International Airport via an interchange at chainage 67, a parallel semi high-speed rail corridor with 30 m right of way already acquired, 60 lakh tonnes of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation waste and 22 lakh tonnes of fly ash reused in embankment construction, 2,70,675 plants in the median and 1,56,097 avenue plantations. It gives Ahmedabad to Dholera as 83 km and 45 minutes, against 100 km and 2 hours 15 minutes before.
| What | Figure | Unit | As of | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Length | 109.019 | km | 2026-02-27 | CONFIRMED |
| Total project costMoRTH's figure. The PMO release of 30 March 2026 says over Rs 5,100 crore. See the discrepancy entry. | 5,800 | INR crore | 2026-02-27 | CONFIRMED |
| Status at that date | open to the public for testing purposes | 2026-02-27 | CONFIRMED | |
| Interchanges | 11 | interchanges | 2026-02-27 | CONFIRMED |
| Underpasses | 86 | underpasses | 2026-02-27 | CONFIRMED |
| Median width | 30 | metres | 2026-02-27 | CONFIRMED |
| Ahmedabad to Dholera by road after openingThis is the road figure. Do not confuse it with the 45-minute rail journey time. | 83 km, 45 minutes | distance and time | 2026-02-27 | CONFIRMED |
Last verified: 11 August 2026. Read the status column this way. CONFIRMED means the named document states the figure. REPORTED means a credible outlet states it and no document confirms it. TARGET means somebody is aiming at it. UNKNOWN means no source we hold gives it, and we would rather leave the row empty than fill it with an estimate.
More than twenty firms turned up to Western Railway's pre-bid meeting for the Dholera semi high-speed line
Cabinet approves Ahmedabad-Dholera semi-high-speed rail: Rs 20,667 crore, about 134 km, target 2030-31
Ahmedabad-Dholera Expressway opens: 109 km, greenfield, access-controlled
Everything we recorded in February 2026
Several of these documents are large PDFs on government portals that move without notice. Where a document has no stable deep link we cite it by its number and date so it can be found again. See the source register for what each document is and what we took from it.
If one of these links has moved or we have read it wrong, write to [email protected] and we will fix the entry and say so on the corrections page. For how we decide what counts as confirmed, see how we source and correct. For the full dated history of the region, see the Dholera timeline. For any term above you do not recognise, see the glossary.