# NHAI’s Mohali-Sirhind highway to cut Bathinda drive by two hours 2026-10-27T02:37:40+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets NHAI’s 135km access-controlled corridor under the Bharatmala Pariyojana is set to reduce the Chandigarh-Mohali-Bathinda road distance from 231km to about 135km, cutting travel time from four to five hours to about two to three hours. The first phase, a 27.37km Mohali-Sirhind stretch, is nearly 80% complete, with authorities targeting its opening by end-2026. The Rs 5,200 crore project is designed to relieve traffic pressure on NH-7, which carries over 40,000 PCUs daily against a capacity of about 25,000. Separately, a 30-km Ambala-side stretch of the Chandigarh-Ambala greenfield expressway, meant to save 40 to 50 minutes by bypassing Zirakpur and Dera Bassi, is likely to open on 15 December, according to an NDTV report cited by News24. The Mohali-Kurali section of the same corridor is already open. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The two outlets cover different expressway projects sharing a geological area near Mohali. Times of India reports the Mohali-Sirhind highway (part of the 135km Chandigarh-Bathinda corridor) as nearly 80% done, targeting end-2026, and frames it around a 2-hour saving over the congested NH-7. Business Today reports the Chandigarh-Ambala greenfield expressway (61.23km) and says its Ambala-side stretch may open on 15 December, saving 40 to 50 minutes by bypassing Zirakpur and Dera Bassi, the Mohali-Kurali section is already open and saving 45 minutes. Neither outlet takes a political stance, both are straight reporting of project status and traffic benefits from official sources. Times of India names a specific cost (Rs 5,200 crore), while Business Today names a specific date (15 December) for the other corridor’s first stretch. The balanced reading is that two parallel NHAI works exist in the same region, with different timelines and savings, a reader should not mix the two corridors’ figures. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report) Frames project as near-complete with 80% progress and Rs 5200 crore cost - businesstoday.in (neutral report) Frames a different corridor with a likely 15 Dec opening date This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Bathinda, Bharatmala Pariyojana, Mohali, NHAI, Sirhind Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/nhais-mohali-sirhind-highway-to-cut-bathinda-drive-by-two-hours/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/nhais-mohali-sirhind-highway-to-cut-bathinda-drive-by-two-hours/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/