BENGALURU: With an allocation of over Rs 1.7 lakh crore, the transport sector is set to receive a huge boost thanks to the Union Budget. Karnataka can expect Rs 4,000 crore for the completion of the 77-kilometre Karnataka section of the Bengaluru-Chennai expressway. As per Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s speech on Saturday, work for the expressway is expected to begin soon.
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officer-in-charge of the project, S P Somashekar, said land acquisition was almost complete. “The Karnataka section has been divided into three packages for ease,” he told TNIE. “If approved now, the project will take two to three years to complete. Only approval is required,” he added.
The 262-km long highway begins in Hoskote and ends in Tamil Nadu’s Sriperumbudur. The project involves the acquisition of 2,600 hectares land, of which about 800 hectares are in Karnataka alone.
Transport Commissioner N Shivakumar said that the Road Safety Authority will also be looking at Rs 12 crore for vehicle location tracking where all commercial vehicles will have a GPS tracking tool.