Bengaluru: The ambitious National Highway upgradation project between Mysuru and Bengaluru that will develop the existing Highway into a world-class 60-metre wide 10-lane road has hit a roadblock, thanks to the negligence of State officials and elected representatives.

Sources said that though the Centre has given its approval for the project that will be a boon to two cities and overall to Karnataka, the State has failed to implement the project. Interestingly, the UPA Government had approved the project and the State Government is yet to fully acquire land.

Though 80 percent of the land for the project has been acquired, the Government is yet to begin the rest of the processes. Once realised, commuters between Bengaluru and Mysuru can travel the distance in just about 90 minutes from the present three hours.

In March 2014, the Union Ministry of Surface Transport had announced that some roads across the country will be upgraded to National Highways, of which Bengaluru-Mysuru was one. NHAI is converting the Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway (NH-275) into a 10-lane one, including a six-lane expressway.

The expressway will cover a distance of 118 km between Panchamukhi temple after NICE Road in Bengaluru and Columbia Asia Hospital junction in Mysuru. The NHAI project will have six bypasses at Bidadi, Ramanagaram, Channapattana, Maddur, Mandya and Srirangapatna.

The estimated cost of this upgradation is around Rs.4,100 crore. After delays in the initial process, NHAI called for tender in December 2016, but it was cancelled due to technical reasons.

A few months ago, they called bidders to develop the stretch. Under this proposal, the Government of India will fund 40 percent of the project cost (Rs. 1,640 crore), and the remaining will be paid by the bidder (Rs. 2,460 crore). Of the Rs. 2,460 crore, the bidder will take 70 percent loan from banks, which will be repaid by the Government of India in 30 instalments.

The authorities need 1,300 acres to expand the existing four lanes to 10, but there are delays in doing this. According to NHAI officials, land acquisition might take at least another eight months.

“Once we acquire land, the project will take two years. The 10-lane Bengaluru-Mysuru Road will not be ready anytime before 2021,” the official added.