Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay, on Thursday, the foundation stone for Rs.7,566 crore 74-km long 14-lane Delhi-Dasna-Meerut expressway and for upgradation of 22-km-long Dasna-Hapur section of National Highway (NH) 24, an official statement said.

"There is an urgent need for an expressway between Delhi and Meerut because NH-58, the only existing link between the two places is heavily congested with traffic," said a road transport and highways ministry statement.

"The alignment of Delhi-Meerut Express will start from Nizammudin Bridge from Delhi and will continue on existing NH-24 up to Dasna," the statement added.

Bids for the Delhi-Hapur section of NH-24 project on new hybrid annuity model were invited with bid due date as December 15, it said.