Work on Bengaluru-Chennai greenfield expressway to start early next year

The eight-lane expressway, which was proposed in 2011, was hit by the delay in land acquisition as it runs through three states – Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

“Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have completed the land acquisition process while it has reached the final stages in Tamil Nadu. We hope Tamil Nadu will complete the land acquisition by end of this year or early next year. Once the acquisition process is over, we will call tenders for the concessionaire under the hybrid annuity mode for all the three phases together,” a senior NHAI official said.

The Bengaluru-Chennai greenfield expressway begins at Hoskote in Karnataka and runs a distance of 75.64 km within the state.

In Andhra Pradesh, it runs for a length of 88.30 km in Chittoor district. The expressway would pass through Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Vellore districts in Tamil Nadu before ending at Sriperumbudur after covering 98.32 km.

For this project, nearly 2,600 hectares of land would be acquired in three states – Karnataka (800 hectares), Andhra Pradesh (900 hectares) and Tamil Nadu (900 hectares). “The expressway is proposed along a new alignment, having six-lane carriageway with paved shoulders, to be developed as a fully access controlled facility. With the highway being designed for vehicular speed of 120 km per hour, it will have no intersections and will have pedestrian and vehicular underpasses to ensure safety,” the NHAI official said.

There are two existing routes from Chennai to Bengaluru — one other via Krishnagiri and Ranipet, which runs to a distance of 372 km and the other via Kolar, Chittoor, Ranipet and Kancheepuram, which is 335 km long.