Chennai-B'luru Expressway work to be delayed by one year  

Chennai: Zipping past from Chennai to Bengaluru in three hours is likely to take at least a year longer, with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) floating fresh tenders to complete the 25-km Kanchipuram-Arakkonam corridor of the Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway.In 2025, NHAI cancelled the tender awarded to D B Jain, who could not complete the corridor due to financial issues, after the Madras High Court dismissed the appeals filed by the contractor.The new tender — issued for Rs 633.12 crore — will be opened later this month and the new firm will get a maximum of 18 months to complete the 25 km stretch.Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway completion to be delayed by a year, likely to open in 2028 The corridor is being built to reduce the travel time between Chennai and Bengaluru to three hours from the current seven to eight hours via Vellore and Hosur. The new corridor will pass through Kanchipuram, Arakkonam, and Chittor in Andhra Pradesh to reach Bengaluru from Chennai.This will push the completion of the entire 258-kilometre stretch from Bengaluru to Chennai to 2028 against the current deadline of 2026-end.While the 71-km stretch in Karnataka has been completed and is fully open, stretches in Andhra Pradesh — Bethamangala-Byreddypalli Byreddypalli-Bangarupalem, and Bangarupalem-Gudipala are 99 per cent, 93 per cent, and 100 per cent complete respectively.In Tamil Nadu, Gudipala-Walajahpet is 99 per cent complete and Walajahpet-Arakkonam is 98 per cent complete, while the Sriperumbudur-Kanchipuram stretch is 89.97 per cent complete.However, the Kanchipuram-Arakkonam corridor is only 53 per cent complete, delaying the corridor’s opening. Since the beginning, the stretches in Tamil Nadu were delayed due to several issues, including land acquisition, availability of raw materials, and removal of high-tension cables.The Kanchipuram-Arakkonam stretch was particularly delayed after the contractor stopped work in May 2025 over financial constraints, forcing the NHAI to terminate the contract. However, the contractor knocked on the doors of the Madras High Court, which ruled last month in favour of the NHAI.Sources told DH that the full corridor is likely to be ready only by early 2028, pushing the deadline by a year.“Even if the contractor starts work on the remaining stretch by October, it will take more than a  year to complete the project. The delay is only because of the court cases,” a source said.

Source: Deccan Herald