Global Bids Invited for Bengaluru’s ₹17,698 Cr Twin Tunnel Road Project

Bengaluru has moved forward in providing reprieve to its notorious traffic congestion, with the tender being opened globally for the twin tunnel road project of 16.7 km, connecting the junction of Hebbal’s Esteem Mall in the north with the Silkbard Junction in the south. The project is therefore being taken ahead by Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure (B-SMILE), a special-purpose vehicle set up to implement strategic urban mobility solutions.

The twin tunnels are proposed to be built equally in two segments, each 8.748 km, with three lanes in each direction that should relieve, to some extent, some of the city’s critical stretch of traffic. The infrastructure will also provide for several entry and exit ramps to give better accessibility across the city. Reconstruction of the project on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) basis for a concession period of 34 years.

The construction period is envisaged as 50 months (4 years 2 months), with target completion by the end of 2029.

Package 1 will run from the junction of Esteem Mall to Seshadri Road near Race Course Junction, with a cost of ₹8,770 crore. Bidders send a financial guarantee of ₹43.85 crore.

Package 2 will stretch from Seshadri Road to Silk Board Junction and is estimated at ₹8,928 crore; a financial guarantee of ₹44.64 crore is required.

As confirmed by officials engaged in the project, not less than eight Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) are intended to be used simultaneously to uphold construction timelines.

The twin-tunnel idea is being seen as a major alternative to the overstressed surface-road network of the city, while acquisitions of land for the metro and elevated corridors are followed closely. The city hopes that with a global opening for bidding, it will attract some of the top infrastructure players interested in one of the most ambitious underground urban transport projects.

The size and scale of this project, along with the long-term concession under BOOT, is a signal for a new way of managing urban traffic expectations that Bengaluru city wants to adopt while availing of undoubted international engineering expertise.