The National Highways Authority of India has said that remaining work to expand the Pinjore-Baddi-Nalagarh highway to a four-lane stretch is due to begin this month after a fresh tender was awarded in the last week of July. The 34-km project linking the industrial belt of Baddi and Nalagarh was awarded at a cost of Rs 3.78 billion (bn) and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2028. The contractor has been given two years to finish the work.

Work will include concrete service lanes for local residents, paved shoulders and separate stormwater and domestic wastewater drains to prevent effluent from establishments reaching the carriageway. The authority has said service roads will be at least seven metres wide where space permits and will be constructed in concrete. One of the drains has already been completed and the separate system aims to protect the highway from waterlogging and pollution.

At present most of the stretch is two-lane, and the project will add two additional lanes while reconstructing and upgrading existing carriageways to meet national highway norms. Each of the four lanes will be three and a half metres wide, giving an overall carriageway of around 15 metres. A one and a half-metre paved shoulder will be provided on either side to improve safety and drainage. Stretches already built to four-lane standard beyond the Nalagarh sub-station will be strengthened.

Approved by the Centre in April 2009 and launched in April 2022, the 34-km highway has faced delays attributed to land acquisition compensation and permissions for soil extraction. Around 17.6 km of the route falls in Himachal Pradesh and the remainder lies in Haryana, with only around 38 per cent of the work completed by December 2024 before the contractor agreement was terminated in February 2025. The project scope includes 104 culverts, 16 minor bridges and five major bridges, and it carries about 20,000 vehicles daily. Prolonged delay has caused congestion, potholes, dust and disruption to industrial traffic.