NH completes land acquisition for ₹1,047-crore Vellore Town Bypass Road

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Published - August 29, 2026 05:30 am IST - VELLORE The National Highways (NH) has completed the process of land acquisition of 123 hectares that covers 13 farming villages for the ambitious ₹1,047-crore Green Field Vellore Town Bypass Road, that will significantly reduce traffic congestion in Katpadi and surrounding areas in the coming years.

Officials of National Highways (NH), which comes under the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), said that the new 20.50-km long Bypass Road will be a four-lane stretch that will connect Latteri village near Katpadi with Nelvoy village near Christian Medical College (CMC) campus in the outskirts of Vellore Corporation.

“The new Vellore Bypass Road will help heavy vehicles like lorries and trucks from Andhra Pradesh to skip Katpadi and reach neighbouring districts like Tiruvannamalai and Villupuram. As a result, traffic in Vellore town will be reduced,” S.

Aadhavan, Divisional Engineer (DE), National Highways (NH), told The Hindu. On Thursday, Minister for Public Works and Sports Development Aadhav Arjuna gave a written response to Katpadi MLA M. Sudhakar of TVK on the floor of the State Assembly that the multi-crore project had been awaiting a nod from the Union Ministry with land acquisition for the new road work done.

Mr. Arjuna also said that a Detailed Project Report (DPR) and a feasibility study will be done to assess the possibility of an elevated corridor between Katpadi railway station and Old Bridge across Palar River, a distance of three km.

Highway officials said that the multi-crore project got its first nod for alignment way back in 2017. In 2023, the Centre gave its nod for the new road work that was estimated to cost ₹752 crore for the State exchequer. Delay in land acquisition and the conflict in West Asia escalated the total cost of the project to the existing market rate of ₹1,047 crore.

As a result, the project was re-sent to the Delegated Investment Board (DIB) of the Union Road Transport Ministry for its nod for funds. Despite the high cost, Highway officials said that the project is on track, with compensation for landowners in the affected villages being settled.

Of 123 hectares of acquired land, 92 hectares are private lands. At present, the Villupuram – Mangalore Highway (NH 75) in Katpadi, on an average, caters to at least 5,000 – 7,000 lorries and trucks every day. Most of the vehicles, which are from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, are mostly south-bound vehicles with goods.

It results in traffic congestion in Katpadi and surrounding areas. As per plan, officials said that the new Bypass Road will have a 15-metre-wide carriageway, 1.2-metre-wide median, footpath, LED streetlights, and high mast lamps.

The new stretch will be an access-controlled bypass road where vehicles along the route can reach its destination without any stoppage, as the stretch will not have any vehicular crossings. The new four-lane stretch will also have two grade separators at Latteri village, two rail overbridges, two high-level bridges across Palar and Kuttaru rivers.

The stretch will also have at least five vehicular subways. Six minor bridges and 18 culverts will be built to prevent inundation of the carriageway and discharge excess rainwater during monsoon. As part of safety features, the new stretch also has road studs, reflectors, signages, blinkers, and CCTV cameras.

In terms of travel time, Highway officials said that it will take around 20 minutes to travel between Latteri and Nelvoy villages on the new Bypass Road as against the existing duration of two hours.