NHAI invites bids for ₹980-cr NH widening in Chennai

The National Highways Authority of India has invited bids to widen the existing stretch of NH 40 from Ranipet in Chennai to the Andhra Pradesh border into a six-lane highway at an investment of ₹980 crore. The stretch, also known as Old Madras Road, will be taken up under Phase III of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP). The section connects Ranipet, Chittoor, Kadapa, and Kurnool and the stretch between Walajah/Ranipet and Chittoor crosses Thiruvalam, Serkadu and Nannamangalam in Tamil Nadu. Vehicles from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka join the Chennai-Bengaluru bypass via NH 40 at Sathuvachari in Vellore and Walajah.

The project will reduce travel time for trucks carrying goods from Ranipet/Mukundarayapuram SIPCOT to Chittoor and provide access to the under-construction Chennai-Bengaluru express highway for motorists from Thiruvannamalai, Arani, Vempakkam, and western parts of Kancheepuram district. It will also facilitate the movement of vehicles from BHEL (Mukundarayapuram), SIPCOT and leather industries to Kattupalli and Kamarajar ports via the proposed Chittoor-Thatchur NH.