Chennai: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has floated a fresh ₹633.12 crore tender to complete the stalled 25.5km Arakkonam-Kancheepuram stretch of the Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway, one of the last major incomplete sections of the corridor in Tamil Nadu.The retenders covers the road stretch between 204.5m to 230km out of the 262km corridor. The new contractor will get 18 months to finish the pending work and will subsequently be responsible for maintenance for five years.The section had reached 53% physical progress, with 11.03km completed, when work was halted by concessionaire D B Jain in May 2025 over financial constraints. NHAI later initiated steps to terminate the contract in Nov 2025.The termination was challenged before Madras high court, which ordered status quo in Jan 2026. In its Aug 20 order, the court held that D B Jain was entitled to fly ash and its transportation free of cost under the project provisions. The contractor’s claim for reimbursement, including ₹180.17 crore, was left for determination by the dispute resolution board or, subsequently, an arbitral tribunal.The unfinished package involves substantial structures, including nine major bridges, an ROB, two grade separators, two minor bridges, 18 vehicular/non-vehicular underpasses and 44 box culverts.Most other packages of the 262km expressway are at advanced stages. In Karnataka, the Bengaluru-Malur, Malur-Bangarpet and Bangarpet-Bethamangala packages are complete. In Andhra Pradesh, Bethamangala-Byreddypalli is 99% complete, Byreddypalli-Bangarupalem is 93% complete and Bangarupalem-Gudipala is complete.In Tamil Nadu, Gudipala-Walajahpet is 99% complete and Walajahpet-Arakkonam is 98% complete. The Kancheepuram-Sriperumbudur package is 89.97% complete and is scheduled for completion by Oct 31.The Union govt is also exploring a bullet train corridor from Chennai to Bengaluru along the expressway stretch with multiple stations planned as well.
