CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu State Highways Authority (TNSHA) has set the ball rolling for the construction of a 43.4-km, four-lane access-controlled highway as part of the extension of the Oragadam-Cheyyar industrial corridor.
The authority recently invited tenders for constructing the highway for 43.4 km which will also form part of 140-km Chennai-Tiruvannamalai Expressway.
The industrial corridor will begin at the under-construction Chennai Peripheral Ring Road at Valayankaranai and terminate at Manampathy on the Kancheepuram-Vandavasi State Highway (SH-116).
The expressway will be developed with service roads on both sides. Valayankaranai is located about 12 km from Singaperumal Koil.
The project will be executed as a greenfield alignment under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model using the Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM).
Under this model, the government will fund 40% of the project cost during the construction phase, while the remaining 60% will be borne by the concessionaire.
The concessionaire may recover its investment either through toll collection or via annual payments from the government over the period of 10 years, sources said.
The 43.4-km stretch will be developed in three packages: Valayankaranai to Pazhaveri (14.5 km), Pazhaveri to Pulivoy (13.4 km), and Pulivoy to Manampathy (15.5 km).
Sources added the extension of the highway from Manampathy to Tiruvannamalai has already been planned, with land acquisition expected to commence after June this year in Tiruvannamalai district.
“The Chennai Peripheral Ring Road-Manampathy stretch is primarily aimed at supporting the proposed SIPCOT Phase III. The existing road infrastructure may not be sufficient to handle freight movement from the industrial park. The extension up to Tiruvannamalai will be taken up later,” an official said.
Currently, SIPCOT industrial complexes (Phase I & II) in Mangal and nine other villages across Cheyyar and Vembakkam taluks in Tiruvannamalai district span over 3,000 acres and are fully occupied.
In response, the state government has proposed the development of SIPCOT Phase III near Melma and eight surrounding villages close to the Manampathy junction on the Kancheepuram-Vandavasi State Highway. A total of 3,175 acres has been identified for acquisition for the new industrial park.