Mysore/Mysuru: Tenders have been floated and will be finalised soon for the Access-Controlled Four-Lane Expressway between Mysuru and Kushalnagar. 11 companies have already submitted their bids for the project that will be undertaken in packages. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is expected to announce the final tender holders soon. This comes less than a month after Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari announcing grants for the Mysuru to Kushalnagar section of the National Highway (NH-275) that will begin at Paschimavahini in Srirangapatna and end near Guddehosur at the start of Kushalnagar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform the ground-breaking ceremony for the project to be developed at a cost of Rs. 3,560 crore when he will arrive at Gejjalagere in Mandya on Mar. 12 where he is dedicating the 10-lane Access-Controlled Expressway between Mysuru and Bengaluru to the nation.

According to sources from the NHAI, the 92.3 km road between Paschimavahini and Guddehosur will be constructed under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I programme. The mega project has a deadline of 2026.

Reduces travel time

This alignment of this greenfield project will run parallel to the existing National Highway (NH-275) and connect Guddehosur with Paschimavahini in Srirangapatna and links with the 119-km Mysuru-Bengaluru Expressway. The Expressway will reduce travel time and boost freight movement. The land acquisition process started in 2020.

On Feb. 8, Gadkari sanctioned funds for the four-lane road with a paved shoulder from Mysuru to Kushalnagar section of National Highway-275 near Guddehosur at the start of Kushalnagar bypass in Mysuru district, for which a budget of Rs. 909.86 crore has been allocated.

Gadkari also announced the construction of access-controlled four lanes with paved shoulders from Mysuru to Kushalnagar section of NH-275 at Yalachahalli near Yelwal-K.R. Nagar Road Junction to Srirangapatna bypass in Mysuru district with a budget of Rs. 739.39 crore.

Tenders called in Sept. 2022

The NHAI had invited tenders for the project under Hybrid Annuity Mode in September 2022 and the technical bids were opened in mid-February 2023 and there were 11 bidders. As per Government tender norms, the tenders will be handed over to the lowest bidder. The names of the final tender holder will soon be announced by the NHAI, sources added.

The work will be undertaken in packages — from Guddehosur to Kushalnagar Bypass to Hassan-Periyapatna Road Junction (22 km and estimated cost is Rs. 617.14 crore); from Hemmige Village Hassan – Periyapatna Road Junction to Ramanathapura -Terakanambi Road K.R. Nagar Junction (24.1 km and estimated cost is Rs. 589.50 crore).

From Ramanathapura-Terakanambi Road K.R. Nagar Junction in Hunsur to Yalachahalli near Yelwal-K.R. Nagar Road Junction (26.5 km and estimated cost is Rs. 659.48 crore); Yalachahalli near Yelwal K.R. Nagar Road Junction to Srirangapatna bypass near Paschimavahini (18.985 km estimated cost is Rs. 662.83 crore).

Why a totally new road?

The Expressway will provide smooth connectivity and seamless travel from Bengaluru to Kushalnagar and its people will be greatly benefited as the existing National Highway 275 has already reached its saturation point.

Earlier, there was a plan to widen the NH-275 on either side. But the main roadblock to this project is Rare Materials Plant (RMP), a Central Government Defence Establishment and Arabithittu Reserve Forest of Karnataka Forest Department (KFD).

If the NH-275 has to be widened, RMP and KFD have to give land and this is near to impossible and is a long-drawn process. As such, the widening of NH-275 has been shelved and an entirely new Expressway project has been taken up.