CHENNAI: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has floated a tender worth Rs 614 crore for completing the remaining 14-km stretch of the Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway in Tamil Nadu. The project is expected to be completed within four months of awarding the contract, according to NHAI officials.
According to a Daily Thanthi report, the 263-km-long expressway, being developed at an estimated cost of Rs 18,000 crore, is expected to reduce travel time between Chennai and Bengaluru from the current five to seven hours to around three hours. The project, announced nearly 14 years ago, was inaugurated in May 2022 and divided into 10 packages for execution.
Of the total 263 km, work on around 230 km has been completed. The 71-km Hoskote-Bethamangala stretch in Karnataka has been fully completed and opened to traffic. Around 90 per cent of the work in Andhra Pradesh and the Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border sections has also been completed.
In Tamil Nadu, out of the 106-km stretch, work on 92 km has been completed, leaving 14 km pending.
The project, initially scheduled for completion by March 2024, faced delays due to land acquisition issues, shifting of utilities such as electricity lines and drinking water pipelines, and poor performance by contractors in certain stretches.
The Arakkonam-Kancheepuram section, spanning 25 km, was also delayed due to litigation. However, officials said the issue had now been resolved and work on the first 11 km had been completed.
"Following the completion of the initial 11-km stretch, we have now floated a tender for the remaining 14 km at an estimated cost of Rs 614 crore. A contractor will be selected shortly, and the work is expected to be completed within four months," NHAI officials said.
Meanwhile, the project cost has increased from the original estimate, with the revised project outlay for the relevant works rising to Rs 10,507 crore, officials said.