Road transport ministry orders DPR preparation for Bengaluru-Mangaluru high-speed corridor

High-speed corridor between Bengaluru and Mangaluru awarded for detailed project report, expected to boost economic development.

A high-speed corridor between Bengaluru and Mangaluru will soon be a reality as the Union Road Transport Ministry has awarded the tender to prepare the detailed project report (DPR), said Dakshina Kannada MP Captain Brijesh Chowta on Tuesday.

Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari told the MP in his June 4 letter that the contract to prepare the DPR was awarded on April 30. Meanwhile, the widening of the existing Bengaluru-Mangaluru National Highway 75 into four lanes between Hassan and B.C. Road, work of which started in 2017, is yet to be completed.

Referring to Capt. Chowta’s January 3 letter this year to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, wherein the MP had sought support for key initiatives in Dakshina Kannada, including the upgradation of road infrastructure along the Bengaluru-Mangaluru corridor, Mr. Gadkari said, “I have got the matter examined and would like to inform you that the DPR for the construction of a high-speed corridor between Bengaluru and Mangaluru has recently been awarded, and the agreement with the DPR consultant was signed on April 30, 2025. The preparation of the DPR is expected to take approximately 18 months.”

Thanking Mr. Gadkari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Capt. Chowta, in a statement here, said the corridor would mostly be an eight-lane one via Hassan. The high-speed corridor was expected to herald massive economic development all along its flanks as well as coastal Karnataka.

Besides reducing the traffic congestion, the travel time between the two cities would get drastically reduced. Capt. Chowta said he had been following up the proposal for the last one year and had met key ministers as well as officials in New Delhi as well as in Bengaluru.

Capt. Chowta has urged the Railway and Road Transport Ministry to go for a combined DPR for the road and railway line project along the Shiradi Ghat while preparing the report for the high-speed corridor. The highway and the proposed new railway line between Hassan and Mangaluru could be built parallel in the eco-sensitive Shiradi Ghat to minimise impact on the environment, he said.

A combined report would also make it easy to obtain environment clearance from the concerned departments, the MP added.