Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has announced that the Bengaluru Satellite Ring Road project is progressing at a fast pace and is expected to be completed by March 2024, well ahead of schedule.

Being developed by the National Highway Authority Of India, the 280-kilometer-long Satellite Town Ring Road (STRR) will connect 12 important towns around Bengaluru, including Dobbasapete, Doddaballapura, Devanahalli, Sulibele, Hoskote, Sarjapura, Attibele, Anekal, Tattekere, Kanakapura, Ramanagaram, and Magadi.

The project will connect six National Highways and eight State Highways, which will help reduce congestion in the city, Gadkari said. He also highlighted that a large number of vehicles going to other parts of Karnataka will not need to enter Bengaluru once the project is completed.

It will alleviate traffic congestion within Bengaluru by providing an alternative route for trucks to bypass the city's congested areas.

Though originally proposed in 2005, the STRR project gained momentum after the Narendra Modi government announced that the funding and execution will be undertaken under the Bharatmala Pariyojana project. The project is expected to cost Rs 15,000 crore.

The NHAI is providing 60 per cent of the funding for the project, and the remaining 40 per cent has come from the Karnataka government.

STRR is being built in 3 parallel phases and involves the construction of NH-948A and the realignment of the existing NH-648 (old NH-207).

To manage the development of STRR, the Karnataka government set up a planning authority called the Satellite Town Ring Road Planning Authority in 2016.

The STRRPA’s jurisdiction includes an area of 1,019 sq km. It will include 331 villages and 12 towns that will be connected. Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation stone for the project in June 2022.