NHAI fast-tracks 262-km NH project in Bangalore

The NHAI has fast-tracked construction of the 262-km-long Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway where the agency has almost completed land acquisition and construction is set to start shortly. Tenders for the concessionaire under Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) are being called, under which, part funding is usually borne by the government, and the contractor is paid an annuity. Since the eight-lane road runs through Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the work was recently distributed among project directors in the respective states. The concessionaire would be given five months to tie up with banks, and the construction work is expected to commence by the year-end, at least in the Karnataka stretch. The Karnataka unit has completed the land acquisition process and in Tamil Nadu both the detailed project report and the acquisition of land are in their final stages. The road runs through Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Vellore districts for a length of 98.32 km. The stretch begins at Hosekote in Karnataka and covers a distance of 75.64 km within the state.