New Delhi, May 27:  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.

There are eight solar power plants along the Expressway having a capacity of 4 MW.

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Kochi(PTI): The Congress in Kerala on Saturday criticised Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for participating in an official inauguration ceremony at the international airport here while the nation was mourning the demise of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Speaking to reporters here, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan described the Chief Minister’s action as "disrespectful" and "inappropriate".

It is disrespectful and inappropriate for someone like the CM to attend and inaugurate an official event at Kochi airport while the funeral of Manmohan Singh, who served as Prime Minister of India for ten years, is being held in New Delhi, the LoP said.

He added that the Chief Minister of Kerala should not have attended such an event and that a request had been made to the airport management to postpone the function and inform the Chief Minister about it the day before.

Satheesan expressed his "grief and protest" over the "disrespect" shown by the CM.

Earlier in the day, Vijayan inaugurated the Taj Cochin International Airport, a five-star hotel developed by Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) and operated by the IHCL Taj Group.

In New Delhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was cremated with full state honours on Saturday in the presence of top dignitaries from India and abroad.

The last rites were attended by President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with top Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi.