The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) began controlled trial runs on the Dwarka Expressway's tunnel link to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport starting May 29, 2025, running daily from noon to 3 pm to study traffic behaviour before full-scale opening. The tunnel's strategic location and layout will benefit large number of daily commuters and reduce the burden on surface roads by connecting Dwarka Expressway to IGI Airport. NHAI used the three-hour daily window to monitor and evaluate traffic patterns, safety measures, and infrastructure efficiency before opening the corridor around the clock.
The underground link is actually a two-part system spanning 5.1 km in total. The main tunnel spans 3.6 kilometres and features eight lanes, running directly beneath the airport's active runway — an engineering feat that makes it one of India's widest urban road tunnels. A second, smaller 1.5-kilometre, two-lane tunnel specifically directs traffic from the Dwarka Expressway towards NH-48, heading toward Gurugram, Manesar, and further on to Jaipur. Together, these underpasses form part of Package 4 of the roughly ₹9,000 crore Dwarka Expressway project.
During the trial phase, commuters travelling towards Gurugram from Dwarka or Yashobhumi could use the shallow tunnel and the right-turn underpass, while travellers arriving at Terminal 3 could use the airport underpasses combined with the right-turn underpass to reach Gurugram via Sirhaul. NHAI officials noted the new system's core purpose: to allow seamless movement of vehicles from Dwarka towards Gurugram without passing through the heavily congested Mahipalpur stretch.
Since the trial period, the picture has moved forward quickly. The entire 29-km Dwarka Expressway route, from Kherki Daula in Gurugram to Shiv Murti in Mahipalpur, was completed and made operational by mid-2025, with the Delhi section inaugurated by the Prime Minister on August 17, 2025. For residents and buyers in Gurugram's newer sectors, the practical outcome is a signal-free, tunnel-assisted route that cuts travel time from border sectors to Terminal 3 to roughly 15–20 minutes, without a single traffic light — a dramatic change from the 60-90 minute detours commuters previously faced via Mahipalpur and Sirhaul.
For Sector 79 specifically, this connectivity upgrade matters because the sector sits along the broader Dwarka Expressway–New Golf Course Road Extension catchment, within reasonable reach of both the expressway's tunnel access points and NH-48. M3M's Golf Hills development in Sector 79 — a 72-acre, golf-themed residential project with towers offering 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5 BHK configurations — is among the projects positioned to benefit from this improved airport and Gurugram access, alongside proximity to established IT and business hubs.
Brokers and market trackers active on the corridor point to steady price movement following infrastructure milestones like this one. Data tracked for nearby Dwarka Expressway projects shows average rates climbing through 2025 as the tunnel and full expressway stretch moved from construction to operational status, with sectors closer to the tunnel entry points and NH-48 interchange commanding the sharper premiums. Rental yields along the corridor have also stabilized in the 3.5% to 4.5% range, a trend that has drawn both end-users and NRI investors to the area.
For homebuyers evaluating Sector 79 or the wider Dwarka Expressway belt, the tunnel's shift from trial to full operation is a concrete, verifiable infrastructure delivery — not a promised future date. Combined with the corridor's mature social infrastructure, ongoing metro extension plans, and established developer presence, the completed airport link adds a tangible commute-time argument to any purchase decision in this part of Gurugram.
