BENGALURU: Over a decade after it was proposed, the Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway project is finally expected to gain some momentum. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the budget on Saturday that the work would begin soon.
She said accelerated development of highways would be undertaken, efforts which will cover the expressway. “This will include development of 2500km of access control highways, 9,000km of economic corridors, 2,000km of coastal and land port roads, and 2,000km of strategic highways,” she said.
“The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and two other projects to be completed by 2023. The (work on) Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway will also be started. It is proposed to monetise at least 12 lots of highway bundles of over 6,000km before 2024.”
Drive to Chennai in 4.5 hours
The 261-km highway, from Hoskote in Karnataka to Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, is expected to decrease travel time between Bengaluru and Chennai to four hours. It will take about 1 hour and 30 minutes to reach Hoskote, which is about 30km from Bengaluru. From there, the journey to Sriperumbudur, through the expressway, will take less than three hours. The expressway will pass through Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. The project was delayed because of various reasons, including land acquisition and approvals from multiple agencies.
An official of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said the planned stretch would serve as a key logistics corridor, speeding up movement of goods and improving the connectivity to the Chennai port.
“It has been identified as one of the priority projects under the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor. The expressway, which will be built at a cost of around Rs 18,000 crore, will pass through three states, covering 76km in Karnataka, 91km in Andhra Pradesh and 94km in Tamil Nadu. It will connect the proposed multi-modal logistic park at Dobbspet, which is also accessible via NH207 or Bengaluru ring road from BCE,” the official said.
A top NHAI official said the project was finally on track. “Land acquisition in Karnataka has been completed. About 80% of the payment for land disbursals has been completed. We will soon float a tender in three packages after getting the central government’s nod. Once the tender is floated, the work will begin in nine months,” said SP Somashekar, director of project implementation, NHAI. “It will take over two to three years to complete the project.”
Trade activist Sajjan Raj Mehta said an expressway between the two largest state capitals in South India was long overdue. “It will boost trade and business,” he said.
She said accelerated development of highways would be undertaken, efforts which will cover the expressway. “This will include development of 2500km of access control highways, 9,000km of economic corridors, 2,000km of coastal and land port roads, and 2,000km of strategic highways,” she said.
“The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and two other projects to be completed by 2023. The (work on) Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway will also be started. It is proposed to monetise at least 12 lots of highway bundles of over 6,000km before 2024.”
Drive to Chennai in 4.5 hours
The 261-km highway, from Hoskote in Karnataka to Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, is expected to decrease travel time between Bengaluru and Chennai to four hours. It will take about 1 hour and 30 minutes to reach Hoskote, which is about 30km from Bengaluru. From there, the journey to Sriperumbudur, through the expressway, will take less than three hours. The expressway will pass through Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. The project was delayed because of various reasons, including land acquisition and approvals from multiple agencies.
An official of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said the planned stretch would serve as a key logistics corridor, speeding up movement of goods and improving the connectivity to the Chennai port.
“It has been identified as one of the priority projects under the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor. The expressway, which will be built at a cost of around Rs 18,000 crore, will pass through three states, covering 76km in Karnataka, 91km in Andhra Pradesh and 94km in Tamil Nadu. It will connect the proposed multi-modal logistic park at Dobbspet, which is also accessible via NH207 or Bengaluru ring road from BCE,” the official said.
A top NHAI official said the project was finally on track. “Land acquisition in Karnataka has been completed. About 80% of the payment for land disbursals has been completed. We will soon float a tender in three packages after getting the central government’s nod. Once the tender is floated, the work will begin in nine months,” said SP Somashekar, director of project implementation, NHAI. “It will take over two to three years to complete the project.”
Trade activist Sajjan Raj Mehta said an expressway between the two largest state capitals in South India was long overdue. “It will boost trade and business,” he said.
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