Travel between Chennai and Bengaluru in 2 hours using new expressway by January next year: Nitin Gadkari
Meanwhile, the government of India has also proposed a Bengaluru–Mangalore Greenfield Expressway and Mangaluru–Chennai Expressway through Bengaluru.
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Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Chairman of Hinduja Group in Europe Prakash P. Hinduja and Managing Director and CEO of Ashok Leyland Shenu Agarwal at the launch of Switch Mobilitys IeV4 series vehicles, during the 75th anniversary celebration of Ashok Leyland, in Chennai, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. (PTI Photo) Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari Thursday announced that the travel time between Bengaluru and Chennai will be cut short to just two hours after inauguration of the new Greenfield Expressway in January 2024. Gadkari was speaking at the 75th anniversary programme of Ashok Leyland in Chennai.
The Bengaluru-Chennai expressway is one of the 36 Greenfield Expressways for which works are underway in India. “In the month of January next year, we will start the Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway where the duration of traveling between the two cities will be two hours only. You can then launch luxury buses and electric sleeper coach buses and give a similar experience as that of business class. Since it is electric, you can also reduce the ticket rate by 30%,” said Gadkari. Earlier the estimated time of completing the project was March 2024.
The ‘new alignment’ project will connect Hoskote (in Bengaluru) to Sriperumbudur in the Kanchipuram district (40 km from Chennai). The expressway is one of the 36 new Green Expressways of NHAI of which the foundation was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2022. The 262 km-long Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway will be built at a cost of over Rs17,930 crore and will pass-through states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. The 262 km highway will be eight-lane for a distance of 240 km, with the remainder being an elevated stretch of 22 km. A total land of 2650 hectares of land was also acquired for the project.
The works are underway in three phases, with the first phase covering a distance of 62.6km between Hoskote and Bethamangala in Karnataka. The second phase will cover a stretch of 85km, from Bethamangala to Gudipala in Andhra Pradesh. The third phase consists of 106km, connecting Gudipala to Sriperumbuddur in Tamil Nadu.
Meanwhile, the government of India has also proposed a Bengaluru–Mangalore Greenfield Expressway and Mangaluru–Chennai Expressway through Bengaluru.
Gadkari called upon automotive industries in India to produce methanol trucks, as an alternative fuel model. “In order to curb pollution, it is important that we adopt alternative fuel options. Recently, on pilot basis, we implemented Ashok Leyland buses in Bengaluru which are run by 15% methanol blend. We can make methanol from low quality coal. My dream is to start methanol trucks and buses in the country by which we can reduce the dependence on the import of diesel,” said Gadkari.
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