Stories
India Builds 5 Mega Tunnels: Hours to Minutes, Revolutionizing Travel Experience.
- •India is constructing 5 mega tunnel projects set to transform the travel experience across the country.
- •Key projects include the Zojila Tunnel in Ladakh, an underwater twin tunnel in Assam, a bullet train undersea tunnel in Mumbai, the Rishikesh-Karnprayag railway line in Uttarakhand, and the Bengaluru-Vijayawada tunnel.
- •The Zojila Tunnel will connect Ladakh year-round, reducing a 3-4 hour journey to 15-20 minutes.
- •The Brahmaputra Underwater Tunnel in Assam will cut a 240-kilometer detour, saving 6 hours of travel time.
- •The Rishikesh-Karnprayag Rail Link in Uttarakhand will ease Char Dham travel, with over 80% of the route passing through the Himalayas.
Key Questions Answered
The 13.153 km long Zojila Tunnel is being built on National Highway-1 between Baltal and Minimarg at a cost of ₹6,809 crore, with a total project length of 30.18 kilometers. It will ensure 365-day connectivity to Ladakh, reducing the travel time across the Zojila Pass from 3 to 4 hours down to just 15 to 20 minutes.
The project involves building India's first and the world's second underwater road-cum-rail twin-tube tunnel under the Brahmaputra river between Gohpur and Numaligarh in Assam. Costing approximately ₹18,662 crore, the 15.79-kilometer tunnel will eliminate a 240-kilometer detour that currently takes 6 hours, cutting travel time to just a few minutes.
The 3.68 km long high-tech tunnel is being constructed between Sitaramapuram and Porumamilla along the NH-544G Economic Corridor at a cost of ₹1,092.18 crore. Following a successful breakthrough in tunnel excavation on September 4, 2026, the project is scheduled to become operational by mid-2027, significantly reducing travel time between Bengaluru and Vijayawada.
