Will Chennai–Bengaluru Expressway Phase III Be Ready by July 2026?

Phase III of the Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway, spanning 106 km across Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, is nearing completion, but delays in one critical stretch continue to raise questions over whether the highway can be opened on schedule.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said Phase III was taken up under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) in four packages - 94 km in Tamil Nadu and 12 km in Andhra Pradesh.

Of the four packages, work is progressing in three packages covering 80.2 km, with physical progress reported at around 90%. These stretches are expected to be completed by July 2026, the minister said.

However, work on the remaining 25.5-km package has been stalled since May 2025 due to financial constraints faced by the concessionaire. Gadkari informed Parliament that the process to substitute the concessionaire is under way.

"Out of total four packages, work is in progress in three packages (80.2 km) with physical progress around 90% and likely to be completed by July 2026. Work in the remaining package (25.5 km) has stopped since May 2025 due to financial constraints of the concessionaire. Substituting the concessionaire is under process," the minister said.

Ground-level challenges persist in Tamil Nadu

While the Karnataka portion of the expressway - spanning 71 km - is already open to traffic, progress on the Tamil Nadu side continues to face hurdles, particularly on the Kanchipuram-Sriperumbudur stretch, which forms part of the stalled package.

Project officials said that this segment has been affected by pending land acquisition, compensation disputes, and legal issues involving contractors. These challenges have slowed execution despite overall progress across the corridor.

A major bottleneck is a 1.1-km elevated trumpet interchange near Sriperumbudur, considered critical for seamless traffic movement. The structure has seen only about 24% physical progress, with delays attributed to design changes, contractor performance issues, and external factors such as unseasonal rainfall and rising construction costs, officials said.

Earlier hurdles resolved, but timeline under watch

Gadkari acknowledged that the project had faced delays during the initial stages due to land acquisition hurdles, shifting of utilities - particularly extra-high-tension power lines - as well as railway and forest clearances.

"All these issues have since been resolved and as on date, no such issue is pending," he told Parliament.

However, officials on the ground cautioned that the stalled package remains critical to the project's overall completion, as the expressway cannot be inaugurated end-to-end until this stretch is finished.

Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway Completion Date

The minister has reiterated that the delayed works are expected to be completed by the end of 2025, keeping the government's target of making the entire expressway operational by mid-2026.

Once completed, the Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway is expected to reduce travel time between the two metros to about two hours, with a design speed of 120 kmph, significantly improving connectivity between southern India's key economic hubs.

However, with work on the critical Tamil Nadu stretch yet to resume fully, public skepticism over the July 2026 deadline remains. The expressway project, which began in 2018, has seen multiple extensions, and the current delay has once again brought focus on execution challenges in large highway projects.

Officials said the next few months will be crucial, with the substitution of the stalled concessionaire likely to determine whether the final stretch can be completed in time for the planned launch.