An aerial view of construction work on the NH-544G greenfield highway, part of the Bengaluru-Kadapa-Vijayawada Economic Corridor.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The proposed six-lane access-controlled greenfield highway between Bengaluru and Vijayawada is expected to give a major boost to Kadapa district and its industrial growth.
The road starts from Kodur village near Kodikonda check-post, runs through the five districts of Sri Sathya Sai, YSR Kadapa, SPSR Nellore, Prakasam and Bapatla, before ending at Muppavaram village near Addanki.
This highway provides the much-needed connectivity between two national highways, NH-44 (Bengaluru-Hyderabad) and NH-16 (Chennai-Vijayawada), reaching out to the hinterland in between.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has taken up the NH-544G, a part of the Bengaluru-Kadapa-Vijayawada Economic Corridor, for a total length of 343.24 km, which includes a brownfield portion of 190 km (90 km from Bengaluru to Kodikonda check-post and 100 km from Addanki to Vijayawada) and 343.24 km of greenfield portion of the NH-544G.
The proposed corridor will reduce the travel distance between Bengaluru and Vijayawada by 110 km and cut the travel time by three to four hours.
Kadapa district derives the maximum benefit from the project, which runs through 12 mandals of Pulivendula, Vemula, Vempalli, V. N. Palli, Yerraguntla, Kamalapuram, Chapadu, Mydukuru, B. Matham, B. Kodur and Porumamilla, for a running length of 123.5 km.
“This includes six construction packages with a total project cost of ₹5,377.72 crore,” said Kadapa District Collector Sridhar Cherukuri. The land acquisition for the project is at an advanced stage, and 2,750 hectares (including 1,020 ha in Kadapa district alone) have been acquired.
Clearances obtained
The project has been divided into 14 packages and construction is under way. Statutory clearances, such as stage-II forest and wildlife clearance, were obtained in March 2025.
“Thanks to this well thought-out project, Bengaluru and Vijayawada will now get direct access to the Hindupuram and Kopparthi (Kadapa) industrial nodes,” said R. Srinivasa Reddy, TDP’s former Politburo member from Kadapa district, who was recently appointed the zonal coordinator of the Hindupuram and Ananthapuram constituencies.
The entire corridor will be equipped with an Advanced Traffic Management System and a closed tolling system, whereby vehicles will be charged only for the section used.
Kadapa will have seven of the 17 interchanges for entry to and exit from the highway, and four of the 18 wayside amenities, including toilets, restaurants, fuel stations, and truck and trailer parking.
Published – June 01, 2026 05:28 pm IST
