JOIN USThe Union Ministry of Surface Transport has accorded in principle approval for upgrading seven different stretches of National Highways (NHs) including Bangalore-Mysore in the State, Public Works Department Minister H C Mahadevappa said.
Speaking to mediapersons here on Tuesday, he said close to 2,108 km of NHs would be upgraded to ensure smooth traffic flow on those routes.
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will upgrade the roads under public private partnership.
The State government will bear the cost of land acquisition and utility shifting, he added.
The Bangalore-Mysore highway upgrading project, which envisages converting the road into a six lane, is estimated to cost about Rs 3,000 crore.
Land acquisition
Land acquisition alone is estimated to cost about Rs 1,200 crore, he added.
Other stretches that will be upgraded are—Bidar to Hospet (NH-161), Jewargi to Chamarajnagar (NH-50), Mudigere to Kadur (NH-73), Kukunur to Bagalkot (NH-67), Gulbarga to Akkalkot (Maharashtra) (NH-50) and Thirthahalli to Hebbri (NH-169).
Besides, Mahadevappa said that the State government had urged the Centre to upgrade four State Highways into National Highways.
They are—Mysore-Malavalli, Someshwar-Gokak, Khanapur-Matkal and Belgaum-Mahaboobnagar (Andhra Pradesh).