Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, has laid the foundation for nine national highway (NH) projects in Karnataka spanning 88 km, with a total investment of Rs 2,042 crore.

During the event, he pledged that road projects and schemes worth Rs five lakh crore will be undertaken in the state over the next five years. The Minister highlighted the expansion of Karnataka’s NH network from 6,707 km in 2014 to around 9,424 km in 2025. Addressing Bengaluru’s traffic congestion, he noted that a Rs 15,000 crore Ring Road project is under construction, with 40 percent completed.

Other projects include a four-lane road over bridge at Wadi (NH-150), a retaining wall between Sampaje and Kushalnagar (NH-275), and road safety upgrades for the six-lane Bengaluru–Mysuru corridor. Currently, NH projects worth Rs three lakh crore are underway across Karnataka. Nitin Gadkari also emphasised improved connectivity to aspirational districts and inter-state links between Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu through the Delhi–Mumbai highway. 

Progress on key routes including Hasan–Raichur, Hubballi–Dharwad, Mysuru–Madikeri, and the Bidar–Humnabad NH-367 section was also noted.