Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced a 14-lane expressway between Mumbai and Bengaluru to reduce traffic. However, an NHAI official clarified that no such project exists, and the focus remains on improving the current highway. Plans for a new Bengaluru-Pune highway are being prepared.
In a major development aimed at reducing traffic congestion on the existing Mumbai-Bengaluru highway, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari announced the construction of a new 14-lane expressway between the two cities. Speaking at an event, he revealed that the tender process has already started, and the project is expected to commence within the next six months.
Gadkari said, "This new expressway will begin at Mumbai's Atal Bridge and pass through the Pune Ring Road, as well as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. It will replace the existing road, significantly easing traffic. Once completed, around 50% of the vehicles currently using the Mumbai-Pune Expressway will be diverted to the new expressway."
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He emphasized that the tender process for this massive project is already underway, and the groundwork will likely start soon.
However, there are conflicting reports regarding the proposed expressway. Vilas P. Brahmankar, an official from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), clarified that there is no current proposal for a 14-lane highway specifically connecting Bengaluru and Mumbai. He said, "We are focused on resolving the ongoing issues on the current national highway. Additionally, a new national highway between Bengaluru and Pune is in the planning stages, with a detailed project report being prepared."
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He added that while the exact route of the proposed new road is yet to be finalized, there is no formal plan to build a 14-lane highway between Bengaluru and Mumbai at this stage. "For now, our priority is addressing the existing problems on the highways," he stated.
There remains uncertainty over which route the new 14-lane expressway, as mentioned by Gadkari, will take. Currently, two primary routes connect Bengaluru and Mumbai. One is the Bengaluru-Hubli-Belagavi-Pune-Mumbai route via NH 48, which is 986 km long. The other route passes through Bengaluru, Tumkur, Chitradurga, Vijaynagar, and Bagalkote, covering about 900 km before joining Maharashtra.