The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday that three packages of Phase-III of the Bangalore-Chennai Expressway are expected to be completed by July.
This 106-km Phase-III
stretch covers 12 km in Andhra Pradesh and 94 km in Tamil Nadu, undertaken on a Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) under four packages.
“During the initial period of the work, there were issues relating to land acquisition, shifting of utilities, especially Extra High Tension (EHT) lines/towers, railway clearances, and forest clearance. All these issues have since been resolved and as of now, no such issue is pending,” Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said.
He added that work is in progress on three packages with a total length of 80.2 km, achieving approximately 90% physical progress.
The three packages include the stretches between Gudipala and Walajahpet (24 km), Walajahpet and Arakonam (24.5 km), and Kanchepuram and Sriperumbudur (31.7 km).
An official from the Ministry told News18 that the remaining 25.5 km section between Arakonam and Kanchepuram has seen about 54% progress.
“Work in the remaining package (25.5 km) has stopped since May 2025 due to financial constraints of the Concessionaire. Substituting the Concessionaire is under process,” Gadkari added.
Official data seen by News18 indicates that by November 2025, the Gudipala-Walajahpet section had achieved 93% progress with 23.7 km completed, while the Walajahpet-Arakonam section also saw 93% progress with 24 km completed. The Arakonam-Kanchepuram section had only reached 54% progress, with 11 km completed. The Kanchepuram to Sriperumbudur section achieved 83% progress with 25.3 km completed.
The Minister also explained that although the existing road is being maintained in traffic-worthy condition, ongoing construction of structures has caused traffic on the main carriageway to be diverted through service roads, causing inconvenience. A fresh overlay on the service road portion has been completed to ensure smooth traffic movement, Gadkari said.
Last month, Gadkari mentioned in Lok Sabha that there has been a delay of about two years in the completion of the Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway due to various reasons, including statutory clearance and financial constraints of the concessionaire. The earlier expected starting date was March 2024.
The entire project spans 262 km across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, divided into three phases: the first phase between Hoskote and Bethamangala in Karnataka (62.6 km), the second phase between Bethamangala in Karnataka and Gudipala in Andhra Pradesh (85 km), and the third phase of 106 km.
The total cost of the 106 km section is Rs 7,882 crore, while the second phase costs Rs 5,366 crore. The entire project costs about Rs 18,000 crore and is expected to reduce travel time between the two cities by two hours. A 70-km stretch between Hedigenabele and Sundarapalya in Karnataka was opened for traffic in March 2025, albeit without formal inauguration.
