NEW DELHI: India on Sunday inaugurated the first stage of its longest expressway, a route linking New Delhi and Mumbai, as it makes a concerted infrastructure push to catch up with geopolitical rival China.

The ambitious $13 billion project will eventually cut the road travel time between the country’s two biggest cities in half, to 12 hours.

India is the world’s fastest-growing major economy and will soon be recognised as its most populous country, but its infrastructure remains decades behind that of its northern neighbour.

A sign over one of the new four-lane carriageways proclaimed “Welcome to Delhi-Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway” — a route that spans a total of 1,386 kilometres (861 miles).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the 246-kilometre first stage Sunday, linking the capital with the tourist city of Jaipur in Rajasthan.

It was a “sign of developing India”, he said, adding that “such investments in railways, highways, subway lines and airports are a key to pushing the country’s growth rate, attracting more investments and creating fresh jobs”. Asia’s third-largest economy has made a renewed push to decouple itself from an increasingly assertive China’s supply chains and build up its own economic capacity since a deadly military clash on their Ladakh frontier in 2020.

A wary New Delhi has expedited many key projects, and Modi’s government this month announced an unprecedented 33 percent increase in infrastructure spending.