Eastern Peripheral Expressway

The Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) — also known as the Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal Expressway or NH-148N — is a 135 km six-lane access-controlled expressway forming a partial ring around Delhi to the east. Inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi on 27 May 2018, the expressway diverts heavy commercial traffic around the capital and was a key plank in Delhi's air-pollution mitigation strategy.

The expressway connects Kundli (north Delhi) to Palwal (south Delhi) via Ghaziabad, completing the eastern half of an outer ring (the western half is the Western Peripheral Expressway, also known as Kundli-Manesar-Palwal or KMP, opened 2018-19). Together they form a complete bypass of Delhi.

NHAI executed the project in 6 packages between 2015 and 2018 at ₹11,000 crore — completed in just 500 days, significantly faster than typical Indian highway timelines. The project featured several India-firsts: solar panels on a 4 km central median (4 MW capacity), rainwater harvesting at every 500 m, dedicated truck-only lanes, and 36 km of noise barriers in built-up sections.

Daily commercial truck traffic on the EPE-WPE combined ring is ~50,000 vehicles, of which ~70% would otherwise have transited through Delhi's already-saturated arteries. The project was estimated to reduce Delhi's PM2.5 by 7-10% during operating hours.