Surat - Chennai Expressway: PM Modi To Lay Foundation Stone For Two Greenfield Sections In Karnataka

Further boosting the road connectivity in Southern India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (19 January) is going to lay the foundation stone of Surat - Chennai Expressway in Karnataka.

PM Modi will be laying the foundation stone for two greenfield sections of this six lane expressway.

The length of these two expressway sections are 65.5 km and 71 km. They will be developed at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore and Rs 2,100 crore respectively.

While PNC Infratech is constructing the 71 km section between Badabal village and Maradagi S Andola village in Kalaburagi District, Dilip Buildcon is building the 65.5 km section between Maradgi S Andola and Baswantpur in Yadgir district.

In total, Surat - Chennai Expressway’s alignment travels for 177 km in Karnataka from Badadal village in Kalaburagi district to Singnodi in Raichur district.

An Expressway Connecting Western And Southern India

Surat - Chennai Expressway will pass through six states- Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. It will reduce the road distance between Surat and Chennai from the present 1,600 km to 1,270 km.

The project is envisioned as a combination of two partially access-controlled economic corridors i.e Chennai to Solapur and Solapur to Surat). It includes construction of greenfield stretches and upgrading brownfield sections.

The corridor will pass through major cities like Nashik, Ahmednagar, Solapur, Kalaburgi, Kurnool, Kadappa, and Tirupati.

While the Surat –Solapur part (via Nashik – Ahmednagar ) will be 564 km long, the Solapur - Chennai part (via Kurnool) is of 707 km length.

The stretches between Surat and Ahmednagar via Nasik and Akkalkot to Kurnool section that links Maharashtra with Telangana and Andhra Pradesh via Karnataka will be developed as greenfield alignments.

The greenfield portion of the corridor is close to 520 km. The rest of the corridor includes upgradation of the existing two-lane roads.

This expressway project is estimated to cost anywhere between Rs 45,000 to Rs 50,000 crore. After 1,350 km long Delhi - Mumbai Expressway, the Surat - Chennai Expressway at 1,270 km length will be the second longest expressway in India.