The Centre has terminated the project to four-lane the Mamallapuram-Puducherry stretch of the East Coast Road (ECR). The project to widen and develop the 105-km portion of the National Highways (NH-332A) was taken up at an estimated cost of over ₹3,000 crore under the Bharatmala Pariyojana.
In an April 8, 2022 letter to Chief Secretary V. Irai Anbu, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) chairperson Alka Upadhyaya said the State did not respond to the two letters sent earlier by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the NHAI in February and March respectively, requesting to expedite the issue of a no objection certificate for handing over the stretch for development.
“As there is no response, NHAI construes that the Government of Tamil Nadu is not inclined to hand over the above road. In these circumstances, NHAI is constrained to foreclose the awarded works (Package I & II) and close the ongoing pre-construction activities of Package-III,” Ms. Upadhyaya said.
