Patna: In a landmark decision set to reshape eastern India’s transport and economic landscape, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has cleared the alignment for the Rs 39,000 crore Raxaul-Haldia Greenfield Expressway. The six-lane, access-controlled expressway will span 585.35 km, connecting Raxaul on the India-Nepal border to Haldia Port in West Bengal via Jharkhand, and is expected to significantly reduce travel time from the current 17-18 hours to under 10 hours.
Of its total length, approximately 408 km will pass through Bihar, traversing 12 districts including Raxaul, Motihari, Shivhar, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Begusarai, Khagaria, Lakhisarai, Jamui, Banka, and Munger. The expressway will then cross Jharkhand’s Deoghar and Jamtara districts before reaching West Bengal, passing through Medinipur and Bardhaman to culminate at Haldia Port.
Designed under the Bharatmala Pariyojna Phase-2 programme, the expressway will include 27 major bridges, 201 minor bridges, 51 interchanges, and a 4.5 km bridge over the Ganga near Birpur village in Begusarai district. Its maximum speed limit will be 120 kmph, ensuring a faster, safer route for commuters and freight.
Officials said that Bihar Chief Secretary Amrit Lal Meena played a pivotal role in securing Central approval for the alignment after prolonged discussions due to alignment issues in West Bengal. “This expressway is not just a road but a pathway to economic transformation,” said a senior road construction department officer, highlighting its role in integrating Bihar with national and international trade networks and spurring job creation and industrial growth.
Raxaul, located in East Champaran district, handles 56% of goods from Nepal’s Birgunj to India. The expressway will provide Nepal’s exporters high-speed access to Kolkata and Haldia ports, enhancing logistics efficiency. It is also expected to boost tourism, improve connectivity to mineral-rich regions in Bihar and Jharkhand, and drive real estate development along its corridor.
The expressway will integrate with the Golden Quadrilateral via NH-116 and NH-16, replacing outdated roads like NH-28A and ensuring smoother traffic flows. Travel times to Patna and Kolkata from key religious and tourism hubs such as Deoghar will reduce to just three hours.
While land acquisition and inter-state coordination remain challenges, discussions are ongoing to address local accessibility concerns, including service lanes for non-motorised vehicles. The National Highways Authority of India will oversee construction to ensure quality standards are met.
The Raxaul-Haldia Expressway forms part of Bihar’s vision to make any part of the state reachable from Patna within 3.5 hours by 2027. Alongside four other major expressways under development – Gorakhpur-Siliguri (417 km), Patna-Purnia (250 km), Buxar-Bhagalpur (300 km), and Varanasi-Kolkata (161 km in Bihar) – this project underscores the state’s push to transform itself into a manufacturing and logistics hub in eastern India.
