Gurgaon: Union ministry of housing and urban affairs has initiated the process to extend the proposed Delhi–Gurgaon–Bawal Namo Bharat Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor to Behror in Rajasthan, reviving the project’s original alignment. The move comes even as the Delhi–Gurgaon–Bawal corridor itself is yet to receive Union Cabinet’s approval.The extension will add about 36km beyond Bawal — roughly 11km in Haryana and 25km in Rajasthan — taking the corridor’s total length to nearly 129km. Four stations are proposed between Bawal and Behror, with the stretch expected to take about 24 minutes to cover. The extension is estimated to add around Rs 8,000 crore to the project cost.The roughly 107-km Delhi–Gurgaon corridor was originally proposed to terminate at the Shahjahanpur-Neemrana-Behror (SNB) urban complex in Rajasthan. The alignment was subsequently curtailed — first to Dharuhera, then to Bawal — before last year’s Public Investment Board (PIB) approval of the 93-km Delhi–Gurgaon–Bawal stretch at a cost of Rs 32,000 crore.Gurgaon MP and Union minister of state Rao Inderjit Singh said the housing ministry has written to the finance ministry seeking approval for the extension.“There has been a long-standing demand from residents and social organisations to restore the original alignment. The extension will provide better connectivity to the industrial belt of SNB, where thousands of people travel every day for work,” Rao said. He added that expansion of IMT Bawal is also under consideration, alongside a logistics hub at Nangal Chaudhary and the Khushkhera-Behror-Neemrana Investment Region.According to officials, the proposal has completed the required stages of examination within the state govt. The extension has already been incorporated into the detailed project report (DPR), meaning no fresh DPR will be needed if the Cabinet clears the project.“The proposal is at an advanced stage and is awaiting the necessary approval. As soon as the approval comes, we will initiate the tendering process and begin on-ground work at the earliest,” said Puneet Vats, chief PRO of National Capital Region Transport Corporation.The proposal was also discussed at a recent meeting of the NCR Planning Board, where officials said extending the corridor would give the SNB belt — one of North India’s largest manufacturing clusters — seamless regional transit, in view of the region’s rapid industrial growth.
