Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said the six-package project comprises 243 km in Karnataka and 45 km in Tamil Nadu. (File Photo)
Bengaluru

Work on Satellite Town Ring Road nears completion: Gadkari to Parliament

The Dobbaspet-Doddaballapura bypass and the overlapped portion with the Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway have already been completed.

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Construction of the 288-km Bengaluru Satellite Town Ring Road (STRR), estimated to cost Rs 14,655 crore, has gathered pace, with two packages completed, two nearing completion and the remaining stretches under implementation, the Union government informed Parliament on Thursday.

Replying to an unstarred question by Bengaluru Central MP PC Mohan in the Lok Sabha, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said the six-package project comprises 243 km in Karnataka and 45 km in Tamil Nadu.

The Dobbaspet-Doddaballapura bypass and the overlapped portion with the Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway have already been completed. The 38-km Doddaballapura-Hoskote section has achieved 99.2% physical progress and is scheduled for completion in November 2026, while the 33.3-km Tamil Nadu stretch between Belagondapalli and the Karnataka border is 91.3% complete and expected to be finished by September.

The Centre also informed Parliament that proposals for two additional six-lane STRR stretches – from Oblapura to Kunigal and Kunigal to S Mudugadapallu – have been appraised by the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee.

On funding, the Centre said the Karnataka government has agreed to bear 30% of the land acquisition cost for the STRR within the state. Of the estimated Rs 6,117 crore required for land acquisition, Karnataka has deposited Rs 518.32 crore so far. The Centre is bearing the entire cost, including land acquisition, for the 45-km Tamil Nadu portion.

The government also provided an update on the 261.7-km Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway, stating that most packages are either complete or in advanced stages of construction. However, the 25.5-km Arakkonam-Kancheepuram section in Tamil Nadu remains stalled after the concessionaire stopped work in May 2025, citing financial constraints.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) issued a notice of intention to terminate the contract in November 2025. However, the Madras High Court directed NHAI to maintain status quo on the termination, and the matter is currently sub judice. Senior lenders have meanwhile initiated the process of substituting the concessionaire.

The Centre attributed delays in the Tamil Nadu packages to land acquisition, utility shifting, railway clearances and the pending relocation of extra-high-tension transmission towers, for which line closure approval from the Tamil Nadu transmission utility is awaited.

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