Snapshot
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- The expressway is projected to significantly reduce travel time between Vijayawada and Bengaluru.
- While the present routes take approximately 12 hours to travel between Vijayawada and Bengaluru, the proposed expressway is estimated to take around six hours.
The project to build the 342-kilometre long Vijayawada–Bengaluru Expressway has been put out to bid by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
The NHAI has opted to divide the project into 14 packages and has requested bids for four of them.
For the first four packages, the NHAI called bids under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM).
The Bengaluru-Kadapa-Vijayawada Greenfield Access Controlled Corridor is part of the Bengaluru-Vijayawada Expressway project.
The expressway would be built at an estimated cost of Rs 19,200 crore.
The expressway is projected to significantly reduce travel time between Vijayawada and Bengaluru. While the present routes take approximately 12 hours to travel between Vijayawada and Bengaluru, the proposed BKV (Bangalore-Kadapa-Vijayawada) Expressway is estimated to take around six hours.
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari approved the new project and directed the state government to complete land acquisition in order to begin construction, reports Economic Times.
According to the Road Transport and Highways Ministry, the project will be finished in 2025-2026.
With the inclusion of the greenfield expressway on the Prime Minister’s priority project list, the state administration has expedited land acquisition in all districts.
Praveen Prakash, the Transport Principal Secretary, recently reviewed the proposed expressway section in the districts of Kadapa and Prakasam and instructed the district collectors to fasten the land acquisition process.
Bengaluru-Vijayawada Expressway
The project is taken under Bharatmala Pariyojana (BMP) Phase-2. The project is divided into three distinct sections that combine brownfield (36 per cent of the total) and greenfield (64 per cent of the total).
The proposed project is divided into three sections:
- Greenfield Section: Addanki to Kodikonda, (AP), 342 km
- Brownfield Upgrade: NH-16 from Addanki to Vijayawada (AP), 113 km
- Brownfield Upgrade: NH-44 from Bengaluru (Karnataka) to Kodikonda (AP), 73 km
Industrial hubs in Guntur, Prakasam, Kurnool, Kadapa and Anantapur — all within a 700-km range — can access Bengaluru Airport via the access-controlled multi-lane highway quickly.
A further benefit of the new project is that it connects Bengaluru with Rayalaseema region of AP, which is far from major airports like Vijayawada or Hyderabad.
The expressway will pass through towns of Kodikonda, Pulivendula, Mallepali, Vangapadu, Addanki, Chilakaluripet and Guntur.