NHAI steers clears ₹10,000-cr Chennai-Salem corridor

The implementing agencies of the state and central governments have recently steered cleared an ambitious 277-km Chennai-Salem green field highway project under the Bharatmala Pariyojana at an investment of ₹10,000 crore. The project has recently picked pace with the National Highways Authority of India is going all out for land acquisition in Tiruvannamalai and other districts. The project is being designed for a speed of 120 km per hour and would crisscross across 159 villages in Kancheepuram, Tiruvannamalai, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Salem districts. The road will be named NH 179-A and 179-B for which a total of 1,900 hectares of land, including around 400 hectares of government land under nine forest ranges in Tiruvannamalai and Kancheepuram districts will be acquired for the project. Maximum land will be acquired in Tiruvannamalai district as the road will pass through 74 villages in the district, said official sources.