Hungund Hosapete (Hospet) Expressway

The Hungund - Hospet Expressway is part of the National Highway 13 which runs through the state of Karnataka and connects Hungund in Bagalkot district with Hospet in Bellary district. The GMR group and Oriental Structural engineers have designed and built this tolled expressway on a build, transfer and operate basis (BOT) for the National Highway Authority of India. The expressway was made partially operational in a trial run in end July 2012. Parts of it are still being developed.

The expressway runs on a 99 kilometer stretch of the NH13.

NH13 runs from Sholapur in Maharashtra to Mangalore in Karnataka and passes through important towns such as Sholapur, Kushtagi, Hospet, Chitradurga, Sringeri, Bhadravati, Shimoga and Mudabidri. Hospet is a hub for iron ore mining and is only 12 kilometers from Hampi, which has the world heritage ruins of the Vijaynagar Empire, so it is a popular tourist destination in the area and has a lot of tourist and industrial traffic.

The stretch of the highway between Hospet and Chitradurga was two laned and extremely congested due to heavy truck traffic. In addition the condition of the road was very bad with numerous pot holes, which led to frequent accidents. The two-lane national highway was upgraded to four lanes on this stretch. This four-lane expressway has made driving smooth for the traffic coming specially from Bangalore, the capital of the state, bound for Hampi , Badami, Aihole, Pattadakhal and other popular tourist towns in north Karnataka. Aihole, Pattadakhal and Hampi are known for the ancient rock cut temple complexes.

Moreover with the reduction of travelling time and congestion on the highway, the expressway is expected to give a boost to the trade and commerce in the state.



Last Updated on: September 05, 2019