NHAI has issued a call for bids to construct a four-lane, access-controlled highway with paved shoulders from Walajahpet-Ranipet to Andhra Pradesh on NH40, with an estimated cost of Rs 8.37 billion. Initially, NHAI had intended to expand the existing two-lane section of the 28 km stretch from Walajahpet to Ranipet into a six-lane road, but the plan has been revised to a four-lane configuration.
While the Old Madras Road is a four-lane road from Chennai to Walajahpet, the stretch between Walajahpet, via Ranipet, and Chittoor remains a two-lane road. However, the section from Chittoor to Bengaluru is also four-lane.
In May of this year, NHAI cancelled the Rs 9.80 billion project for six-laning the Walajahpet/Ranipet-Chittoor section after extending the bid opening deadline over 21 times since September 2022.
