The much-awaited project to upgrade the existing four-lane highway between Mysuru and Bengaluru into a10-lane highway got a boost yesterday with the Union Government inviting tenders.

The 60-metre highway includes toll and toll-free stretches. While the six-lane section will be with toll, the two-lane stretch on either side will be toll-free and can be used as a service road.

The tenders have been called for by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). Interested firms can apply for tenders as per the NHAI norms by January 5 and the NHAI is expected to complete the tender process by March 2017.

Works are expected to begin by the end of March or April first week and are expected to be completed by 30 months.

The State Government has almost completed acquiring 2,200 acres land needed for the project, and only compensation remains to be paid.

Once the highway is ready, it will take just 90 minutes to reach Mysuru from Bengaluru, NHAI sources here said.

The expressway will cover a distance of 118 km between Vishwa Vokkaligara Mutt after NICE Road in Bengaluru and Columbia Asia Hospital junction in Mysuru. The NHAI project will have six by-passes at Bidadi, Ramanagaram, Channapatna, Maddur, Mandya and Srirangapatna. The expressway is expected to cost Rs.3,600 croreexcluding Rs.2,300 crore in land acquisition costs.

The 10-lane highway will have restaurants, fuel stations, toilets and vehicle parking spaces at intervals of 40 kilometers. All the facilities will be provided as per NHAI rules and the existing restaurants will not come on the tolled stretch.

According to the detailed project report, the highway will have an average daily traffic of 60,000 passenger car units. The expressway is expected to give healthy returns to the investor given the rising volume of traffic between the two cities.

Currently, over a lakh vehicles use the Bengaluru-Mysuru route on the weekends. The highway will take away at least 40 per cent of this traffic, leaving only the rest for the existing four-lane highway between the two cities.UNI BSP HVB CS 1134