News Brief
Bengaluru-Vijayawada Expressway: Megha Engineering And KNR Constructions Win Five Packages For Greenfield Sections In Andhra Pradesh
- Bengaluru-Vijayawada Expressway, estimated to cost Rs 19,200 crore, will be executed via 14 packages and is envisaged as a combination of greenfield alignment and brownfield upgrades.
- While the present route covers a distance of 650 km and takes approximately 12 hours to travel between Vijayawada and Bengaluru, the proposed BKV Expressway will reduce the time taken to travel between two cities to around six hours.
Greenfield section (Representative image via MoRTH)
Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL) and KNR Constructions are to be awarded five packages on the greenfield sections of 518 km long, six-lane, access-controlled Bengaluru To Vijayawada Expressway in Andhra Pradesh.
In December 2022, the National Highway Authority Of India (NHAI) invited bids for the expressway project under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) model.
Megha Engineering was awarded four civil packages comprising about 124 km from Nallacheruvu Palli to Muppavaram.
KNR was awarded a contract for a 29-kilometre-long construction package connecting Marripudi and Somavarappadu, reported metrorailguy.
Bengaluru-Vijayawada Expressway
The proposed expressway, envisaged as a combination of greenfield alignment and brownfield upgrades, is divided into three major sections:
Brownfield Upgrade: NH-44 from Bengaluru (Karnataka) to Kodikonda (Karnataka-Andhra border), 73 km
Greenfield Section: Kodikonda to Addanki (Andhra), 342 km
Brownfield Upgrade: NH-16 from Vijayawada to Addanki (Andhra), 113 km
The expressway is set to significantly reduce travel time between Vijayawada and Bengaluru. While the present route covers a distance of 650 km and takes approximately 12 hours to travel between Vijayawada and Bengaluru, the proposed BKV (Bangalore-Kadapa-Vijayawada) Expressway will reduce the time taken to travel between the two cities to around six hours.
The project is being constructed under the Modi government's flagship Bharatmala Pariyojana (BMP) Phase-2 program, and will provide seamless connection from Bengaluru to Andhra Pradesh's Rayalaseema area.
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.
The expressway will pass through towns of Kodikonda, Pulivendula, Mallepali, Vangapadu, Addanki, Chilakaluripet and Guntur.
The expressway is expected to be opened for public use by 2025 - 2026.
While the expressway was initially proposed to connect Rayalaseema region with Amaravati (the greenfield city proposed as newly-carved state's capital), the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government decided to drop the Anantapur-Amaravati plan and instead realigned the expressway to connect Bengaluru and Vijayawada via Pulivendula, the pocket borough of ruling Reddy family along with other parts of Rayalseema.
