Teynampet-Saidapet flyover is TN's costliest at ₹195 cr/km

THE Tamil Nadu highways department's ambitious 3.2 km Teynampet-Saidapet flyover project in Chennai, touted as the country's first elevated corridor built above a metro tunnel, has come under the spotlight for its high cost.

- B ANBUSELVAN @Chennai

THE Tamil Nadu highways department's ambitious 3.2 km Teynampet-Saidapet flyover project in Chennai, touted as the country's first elevated corridor built above a metro tunnel, has come under the spotlight for its high cost. The four-lane flyover, for which work began in 2024, has an average construction cost of a whopping ₹195 crore per km, bringing the total project cost to ₹621 crore.

In contrast, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which follows stricter design and higher construction standards than the state highways, has estimated the cost of its six-lane elevated projects in TN and in other regions at ₹120-₹130 crore per km over the same period, making the Teynampet elevated corridor project costlier by around 50%, according to sources.

NHAI's projects include the widening of Sriperumbudur-Walajah section (revised estimation) and flyover/bridges being built on Grand Southern Trunk road in Chengalpattu-Villupuram section. The average per km construction cost of the other recently-completed four-lane flyovers was ₹95 crore at Koyambedu (opened in 2021) and ₹100 crore at Medavakkam (opened in 2022). Similarly, NHAI's 6.9-km four-lane elevated corridor on the Madurai-Natham Road was completed at an average cost of ₹100 crore per km.