262 Km Long And Eight Lane Bengaluru - Chennai Expressway To Be Complete By March 2024

The Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, on Thursday (5 January) inspected the Karnataka section of the under-construction Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway.

Interacting with the media, union minister Gadkari said that the new expressway between the two mega cities of southern India will be completed by March 2024.

Gadkari claimed that the greenfield expressway project is being built for a speed of 120 km per hour which reduces the journey time between the two capitals to just two hours and 15 minutes.

He said that there would be no flights operating between Bengaliru and Chennai after operationalisation of the new expressway.

Replying to a question regarding the delay in highway projects in karnataka, the union minister said that there is a delay in granting permission for stone and aggregate which is in turn delaying the construction. He assured to take up the matter with Karnataka CM Bommai.

Southern India’s First True Expressway

Bengaluru - Chennai Expressway project is divided into ten packages and is being built at a cost of almost Rs 16,730 crore.

This greenfield and eight lane highway extends 262 kilometers through Tamil Nadu (85 km), Andhra Pradesh (71 km), and Karnataka (106 km).

The expressway would allow motorists to reach Bengaluru in two and half hours from Chennai, depending on speed. And at least 9,500 passenger car units travel between the two cities every day.

The expressway with its greenfield alignment has reduced the road distance to 262 km from the present 300 km.

It would be completely fenced off, to ensure no animals stray onto the road and it would not have any service lane for local traffic. The road crosses the built-up area only at two locations.

The project marks the first expressway project in Southern India and it shall give a big fillip to the logistics movement given both Bengaluru and Chennai are home to upcoming logistics parks.

Hoskote, Malur, Bangarapet, Kolar Gold Fields, Venkatagirikota, Palamaner, Bangarupalem, Chittoor, Ranipet, Sriperumbudur are some of the cities on the Chennai Bangalore Expressway.

Currently, around 35 per cent work is complete on the Karnataka section of the expressway.

Out of 262 km, construction was already initiated on 231 km.