EVs plying on state and other national highways will get a 50% discount on toll charges.

The government of Maharashtra recently announced the Electric Vehicle Policy 2025. Under the new policy, electric 4-wheelers and buses can travel on toll roads such as the Atal Setu, Mumbai-Pune Expressway and Samruddhi Mahamarg for free.

Besides the 100% toll exemption on the aforementioned roads, the government has announced a 50% reduction in toll charges for EVs plying on state and other national highways.

The new EV policy was approved by the cabinet on April 29, 2025. It aims to boost the use of EVs by offering toll waivers and subsidies on the purchase of EVs. The government has earmarked Rs 1,993 crore for the new EV policy. It will be valid till 2030.

The government also plans to improve the charging infrastructure in the state by installing EV chargers every 25 km on national highways.

Buyers will receive a 10% concession on the purchase of electric 2-wheelers, 3-wheelers, 4-wheelers, state transport buses, and private buses. Electric goods carriers, including 3- and 4-wheelers as well as electric tractors, will get a 15% concession against their original price.

Source: Times Now

Drive from Hoskote to Venkatagiri Kota/Bethmangala exit is super smooth. Road conditions are great, but in current state everyone need to be careful as many two wheelers and cars do drive in wrong side.

BHPian ravib recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Myself and BHP-ian NPV did a Sunday morning breakfast drive in BCE all the way till Venkatagiri Kota/Bethmangala exit.

From Bangalore - Hoskote to Kolar direction traffic, we can now normally take the free left clover leaf to enter BCE. No need for any workarounds or opposite side U-turns etc. Simple and straightforward without any confusion. However, the Kolar to Hoskote-Bangalore direction free left is not possible as the road is not tarred and cars cannot enter.

Drive from Hoskote to Venkatagiri Kota/Bethmangala exit is super smooth. Road conditions are great, but in current state everyone need to be careful as many two wheelers and cars do drive in wrong side. We also saw few trucks now itself. There aren't many vehicles in opposite direction towards Bangalore side though. We then took the Sunrapalya/Bethmangala/Avani road to reach back NH4/NH75 in Old Madras Road.

Malur, KGF and Venkatagiri Kota/Bethamangala are major exits at this point. No tolls are operational and only one left most lane is opened for cars to pass through. It seems they finished the road all the way till Baidreddipalle and the road is blocked. If they complete one more section for about another ~40 kms more till Palamaner exit, that will help a lot so that all Tirupati and Chennai bound traffic can start taking expressway , sooner than end of this year hopefully! Fingers crossed.

That will help to cruise in much faster and greater average speed to reach Palamaner exit. We can completely avoid Narasipura, Kolar, Mulbagal, Nangli traffic and on-going bridge constructions.

Let's see....

One of the recent 2 days old YouTube video by a vlogger to see latest update.

https://youtu.be/0vsr2YXW_oc?si=arUXXXlA0OkO7NlE

-Ravi

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There were few undulated surfaces but overall it’s a good surface.

BHPian glovins2004 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Joy ride on Bangalore to Chennai Expressway, isn’t a better way to kick start a weekend, of course yes.

Caution –  No facilities on the NE unless you exit to any nearby town. Avoid night drive at any cost on this 71Km stretch.

My hands on a VENTO TDI 1.6 and on this beautiful empty stretch, what a joy. There were few undulated surfaces but overall it’s a good surface.

I’ll let the pictures do rest of the talking.

Drive safe, cheers Vino

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have also noticed an increasing number of dhabas coming up along the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway all along this stretch.

BHPian Roan J recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Over the past two weeks, I had to travel on the Sohna-Dausa section of the DME thrice, all at different times of the day. Of these six trips, one was on a Sunday evening from Dausa to Sohna.

Members familiar with driving Jaipur to Delhi via the NH8 on any Sunday evening, 10-15 years back, may recall how one had to keep weaving between trucks and slow moving cars across all three lanes (I understand driving on this road is a lot worse now, I stopped using it ever since DME opened).

That's the condition of the DME, particularly on Sunday evening. The added risk factors are the 120 kmph speed limit and four lanes. Cruise control was useless on this Sunday evening.

I have also noticed an increasing number of dhabas coming up along the DME all along this stretch. Truck drivers use the left two lanes to park and drop in at their favourite dhabas.

Will NHAI ever be able to enforce lane discipline and illegal parking on the DME? Also, does not look like the speed cameras can differentiate between trucks, busses and cars and hence imposing different speed limits does not have any effect.

Here is a short compiled video clip of dashcam footage during the Sunday evening drive.

Early morning drives on the DME are a bliss, I get to use cruise control at 119 kmph without any tensions. One positive is that scooters, bikes, tractors and autos are still not forcing access.

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I must say that almost everyone today was following the prescribed speed limits and lane discipline.

BHPian shankar.balan recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Left at 0614.Reached Mysore Hari Govindas in the Ring Road by about 0815. Had a quick brekkie, left at 0840 and drove straight back.Returned home at 1031. A nice 307 km chukker to stretch the car’s legs. A in part one might say, an Italian Tune up.
Cruise Control more or less all the way. Set to 99kmph.

Perfect Sunday Morning Run.

The Expressway on the way out, was fog laden from Bidadi until Maddur. On the way back it was relatively empty.
I must say that almost everyone today was following the prescribed speed limits and lane discipline.
Really good that the speed cameras are up and running. The fear of being penalised makes our people drive decently.

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The onward journey took 12 hrs and 10 mins of driving and the return journey involved over 14 hours of driving spread out over 2 days.

BHPian yogishkamath recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

I drove from Marathahalli to Panvel on Saturday with my family - through the Belagavi route and back on Sunday/Monday through the Pandharpur route.

The onward journey took 12 hours and 10 minutes of driving (plus 2 hours of stops for food and fuel) and the return journey involved over 14 hours of driving spread out over 2 days with an overnight stay at Pandharpur. I was the sole driver.

Onward journey:

Started from home at 3.30, reached Tumkur at 4:40, Chitradurga at 6:00, refueled a few km before Hubballi at 7:50 and reached Belagavi at around 9:00.

Progress was comparatively slower post-Belagavi. We stopped for breakfast at around 9:55 just a few km short of Nipani, resumed driving an hour later and reached Kolhapur at 11:30 or thereabouts. We were on track to reach the Pune-Mumbai expressway at around 15:20. Therefore, we decided to have lunch at Vithal Kamat's a few km before the beginning of the expressway and ended up getting to it about 55 minutes later at 16:15. The destination was reached at 17:40.

Return journey:

We started at 14:35 on Sunday and reached the temple at Pandharpur just before 20:00. On Monday, we started from Pandharpur at around 6:00, reached the Vijayapura bypass around 7:50, (through NH561A), refueled at 8:45, stopped for breakfast about 50 km before Hospet at around 9:25. Resuming at 10:05, we were able to get to Chitradurga at around 11:55 and Tumkur at 13:15. The last 80 odd km to Marathahalli took 2 hours 15 minutes and we got home only at 15:30.

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The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is a game changer and a real, viable alternative to flying north to Delhi / Meerut / Agra etc.

BHPian PGNarain recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

We finally completed our Mumbai - Delhi - Haridwar Trip over the Christmas Break.

We had two cars in our small convoy, a total of 4 adults and one kid.

Thanks to all the inputs here, we decided to take the following route to and from Delhi - Haridwar.

Mumbai to Haridwar

Navi Mumbai > Nashik > Indore (Night Stay) > Ratlam > Joined DME at the Nayapura Interchange > Chechat Exit > Morak > Joined DME at the Gopalpur Interchange (Phata Khera) > Laban Exit > Kota > Tonk > Jaipur (Night Stay) > Dausa > Joined DME at the Dausa Interchange > Exited DME and joined Delhi EPE at Khalilpur Interchange > Exited Delhi EPE and joined NE3 / Delhi Meerut EW at Rasulpur Interchange > Meerut By-Pass Muzaffarnagar > Roorkee > Haridwar

• Mumbai to Indore: Started at 0430hrs and reached Fairfield Indore at 1700hrs. Roads were ok-ok till Maharashtra border and better after that. Lots of traffic almost all the way.
• Indore to Jaipur: Started at 0450hrs and reached Raja Garden, Jaipur at 1600hrs. Good Roads and the DME is just marvelous. We only encountered bad traffic near Jaipur.
• Jaipur to Haridwar: Started at 0400hrs and reached Haridwar at 1300hrs. Easiest day of driving with a large section driven by my wife, while I slept. Mostly E-Ways barring bad / unruly traffic on the Meerut By-Pass.

Haridwar to Mumbai

Haridwar > Roorkee > Meerut By-Pass > Delhi Preet Vihar (Night Stay) > Noida - Dadri Main Road > Joined the DND-KMP EW at the Maha Maya Flyover > Faridabad > Joined the DME at the Khalilpur Interchange > Exit Sawai Madhopur > Indergarh > Kacholiya > Morak / Modak Village (not via Bholoo Village as per Gmaps) > Joined DME at the Chechat Interchange > Bhuteda Exit > Ujjain > Indore (Night Stay) > Nashik > Igatpuri > Thane > Navi Mumbai

• Haridwar to Delhi: No sweat really, and easygoing. Started from Haridwar around 12.15pm and reached Delhi at 1600hrs.
• Delhi to Indore: We had initially planned to stop at Kota but decided to continue to Indore as we needed to get back to Mumbai sooner than initially planned. Started at 0545hrs and reached Indore at 1930hrs. The last about 100Kms took us close to 3 hours due to traffic approaching Ujjain and from Ujjain to Indore.
• Indore to Navi Mumbai: The last and unfortunately the worst day of driving. Started from Indore at 0730hrs and reached Belapur, Navi Mumbai at 2130hrs. Traffic from Indore was busy all the way till Igatpuri, after which it kept getting worse and worse and worse.

Entry into Mumbai had bad and slow-moving traffic on road diversions. To make matters worse, while entering Thane, Gmaps showed an alternate route, which I mistook for the Kalwa-Airoli route, but took us through Mumbra! We lost a good 30-45mins in what can only be described as slit-your-wrist traffic, especially since we were already on the road for 12+ hours.

Nevertheless, it was a great road trip. Had a lot of fun and hats-off to the DME! It is a game changer and a real, viable alternative to flying north to Delhi / Meerut / Agra etc if you are a family of more than 4 people, and have time at hand. Once complete, I reckon Mum-Del is going to be an easy two days journey and expect a lot of people to do this in one day flat.

Just hope that roads / utilities are maintained, and people drive sensibly!

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Engineering marvel and can get you to Nagpur and from Nagpur in little time.

BHPian ambivalent_98 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Just drove on Samruddhi Mahamarg last week -

Pros-
1) Engineering marvel and can get you to Nagpur and from Nagpur in little time.
2) Amazing sights along the way.
3) Effective stray cattle protection and holding well so far. Didn't see a single dead dog or other roadkill.

Cons -
1) Surface at places does pose a challenge to tyres. At higher speeds it takes quite a toll on the tyres.
2) Lots of tyre fragments lying all along the highway as re-tread truck tyres peel off.
3) Zero Safety Patrol vehicles of any type.
4) LArge patches of road without mobile connectivity.
5) Emptiness of road and generally just sitting idle controlling the steering wheel makes the mind wander and makes one feels drowsy / sleepy.
6) Very few fuel stops on the way and very very poor cafeteria / eateries enroute. No branded chain restaurants at all. They will see a decent traffic considering the number of users on the E-way.
7) New drivers with newer cars tend to drive fast causing tyres bursts or punctures. Saw lots of those enroute.
8) Poor driving etiquette causes lots of incidents and the higher the speed the more severe it gets.

For first time travellers -
1) Drive slowly and less than or equal to 100 kph if your car goes that far , but this is a safe speed and it is not a race track.
2) Carry plenty of food and water as the food facilities are pathetic.
3) Make it a point to pause for a few minutes after an hour of driving. This has to be done as there is nothing else to keep your mind distracted. Not a single advertisement board of any sort.
4) Keep spare tyre prepped and ready in case you encounter a puncture.
5) Finally, tank up before you get on the E-way as you will end up on a sticky situation since petrol stations are places approx 100 kms apart.
Good luck and have a safe drive.

Here's what BHPian somersault had to add to the conversation:

Drove on the Samruddhi Highway on 7th from Mumbai to Nagpur and on 10th from Nagpur to Mumbai. My observations of the highway.

Good things -
1. Reduces the time considerably. Straight line drive. So lesser fatigue to the mind to check for other vehicles.
2. Can drive with Cruise control for the complete journey. I used cruise with 118 KMPH setting.
3. Road surface is generally good. Tires need to be big and with high ratings to drive safely.

Things to watch -
1. Road kills at night and the dead animals on the road
2. Highway Hypnosis. Specially with cruise control. Take a compulsory break every 2 hours to reduce fatigue.
3. Risky for single person journey from the point of highway fatigue.
4. Saw many vehicles with punctures and people replacing tires on the shoulder. This is definitely a tire maintenance issue.

Things to consider for planning -
1. Plan the petrol pumps visits. Make the tank full at Padgha or Igatpuri when driving from Mumbai to Nagpur. Make another tank full at around Jalna and then another one around Buti Bori. For return, full tank at Sindi next to Nagpur then around Aurangabad area and then in Kasara / Shahapur.
2. No proper food malls but now small BP or IOC branded snacks/chai shops are coming up at the petrol pumps. You can get Misal Pav, Pav bhaji, lassi, chaas etc at those places.
3. At 3 petrol pumps air compressors were not working. Please carry your own portable air compressor. Since the network on the highway is limited, carry your own air inflator for tubeless tires.
4. Google maps behaves erratically due to network issues. It is best to download map before the start of the journey.

Notes -
Saw just one accident on the way. Otherwise safe and peaceful journey. Saw couple of police vans at the medians with speed guns measuring speeds.

Summary - Overall a great way to travel if your car and tires can support.

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The first section ends at Lalsot and you have to exit and re-enter the expressway (and pay tolls) to head towards Sawai Madhopur.

BHPian Totoro11 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

I took this route on 25th Dec while going from Delhi to Bhopal and this section is operational and superb.

The first section ends at Lalsot and you have to exit and re-enter the expressway (and pay tolls) to head towards Sawai Madhopur. From Sawai Madhopur exit, you have to go to Kushtala and take the Lalsot-Kota Highway for 56km to Laban. This is an undivided road and you can expect moderate traffic including trucks. It passes through an industrial area that prides itself in being the first 'Cement Nagri' of Rajasthan. There's also a railway crossing on which a bridge is being built (you can take it to save time). The road from Laban to expressway is prominent and you can't miss it. Getting to the correct lane through the cloverleaf will need some attention as signages are not complete.

From here to Gopal Pura is 84km of pure bliss and no amenities. There was no toll as it is under trial run. Night driving is not advisable as it may not be safe. As soon as you exit the expressway near Gopal pura, there are some dhabas/resorts with decent washrooms.

PS: I was able to go from Gurgaon to Bhopal in 11hrs 30mins (driving time 10hr 15mins) thanks to the expressway. Route taken: Gurgaon-Sawai Madhopur- Gopal Pura (Kota)- Jhalawar-Aklera-Biaora-Bhopal

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The new guidelines aim to guide drivers more effectively with clear and more frequent road signs.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued new guidelines for signage on expressways and national highways. The new rules will come into force in February 2025.

As per the fresh guidelines, agencies must install larger, more prominent speed limit signs every 10 km. ‘No parking’ signs must be placed every 5 km along with signage displaying emergency helpline numbers.

Besides this, the government has also mandated the installation of directional signage for heavy and slow-moving vehicles, guiding them to stay in the left lane. Signs must be placed at least 2 km before exit points on expressways and highways. Also, signs indicating roadside amenities must be placed 5 km, 2 km, and 1 km before the location. 

The new guidelines aim to guide drivers more effectively and help them make informed decisions with clear and more frequent road signs.

Source: ET Auto