New Delhi, May 27 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled in an open jeep on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway after inaugurating its first phase here on Sunday.

The first phase of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway cost Rs 842 crore on building the 9-km stretch of the 14-lane highway. The total cost of the project on completion would be Rs 7,500 crore.

Once the entire project is complete, it will take 60 minutes to travel from Delhi to Meerut.

The Prime Minister's road show commenced from the Nizamuddin Bridge, the start of the about 9 km first leg of the expressway.

The total length of the project is 82 km, of which the first 27.74 kms will have 14 lanes, while the rest will be a six-lane expressway.

After a 6-km travel on the stretch, Modi flew to Baghpat to inaugurate the 135-km Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal (KGP) Expressway (Eastern Peripheral Expressway), built at a cost of Rs 11,000 crore.

The Eastern Peripheral Expressway will reduce traffic time between Kundli and Palwal in Haryana from over four hours to around 72 minutes.