Hours after the elevated corridor project was accorded environment clearance, the Karnataka Road Development Corporation late on Saturday night called for tenders for the first phase.
The 22.12-km North-South Corridor between Baptist Hospital on Ballari Road and Silk Board junction is estimated to cost ₹5,060.71 crore, and will be taken up in the first phase.
The 102-km long project comprises seven corridors. It will be built at an estimated cost of over ₹25,000 crore.
A recent Cabinet meeting authorised the Chief Minister to take the final call on the project and he approved it a few days ago, sources said. The Public Works Department is executing the project. They added that the government was driven by a sense of urgency before the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha polls comes into force.
Civic groups have criticised the the government’s decision to go ahead with the project without public consultation.