Bengaluru's proposed Hebbal to Central Silk Board twin tunnel road has reached its latest procedural milestone. On 28 September 2026, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar met Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi and flagged seven pending land issues holding up key Bengaluru infrastructure projects, according to reports from ANI, ETV Bharat and the Daily Excelsior. Among them is the Bengaluru Urban Vehicular Twin Tunnel Project itself: the state has requested about 2.039 acres of defence land for a tunnel ramp near Hebbal, and separately asked for permission to run the tunnel underground through defence-controlled land near Mekhri Circle without disturbing the surface above it.
1. What's Actually Being Built
The tunnel itself is not new news, Karnataka cleared a roughly Rs 17,780 crore plan for the project in 2025, covering a 16.7 km underground three-lane twin tunnel running about 36 metres below ground from Hebbal to Central Silk Board. The executing agency, Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B.SMILE), has proposed deploying eight tunnel boring machines split across two packages to try and complete the roughly 16.75 km stretch within three years, under a BOOT (Build-Own-Operate-Transfer) model with an estimated toll of around Rs 19 per km. Entry and exit ramps are planned at four major junctions along the route, Hebbal, Mekhri Circle, Chalukya Circle and Silk Board, spreading traffic across multiple access points rather than concentrating it at the two ends. Once operational, the tunnel is expected to cut the commute between Hebbal and Silk Board from roughly an hour today to about 20-25 minutes.
2. Why a Defence Land Request Is a Meaningful Signal
Large infrastructure projects in Bengaluru have a long history of stalling on exactly this kind of land and clearance issue, so a formal, CM-level request to the Defence Ministry for the specific parcels needed at Hebbal and Mekhri Circle is worth paying attention to. It means the project's detailed alignment and ramp design are advanced enough that the state knows precisely which plots it needs, rather than this still being at a conceptual planning stage. It doesn't guarantee a fast resolution, defence land clearances can take time, but it is a concrete next step rather than an announcement without follow-through, which is the pattern that has derailed similar Bengaluru projects in the past.
3. What It Means for Hennur, Thanisandra and the Wider Hebbal Catchment
For property buyers in the Hennur and Thanisandra belt, which sits just off the Hebbal end of this corridor, the tunnel adds another layer to a connectivity story that has already been strengthening through Outer Ring Road upgrades and metro progress in this part of North Bengaluru.
- Faster access south, not just within North Bengaluru. The tunnel's real value for Hennur and Thanisandra residents is the commute it unlocks towards Koramangala, HSR Layout and the ORR tech corridor near Silk Board, routes that are currently some of the most congested in the city during peak hours.
- Hebbal strengthens as a connectivity hub. With the tunnel's northern ramp anchored at Hebbal, alongside its existing flyover, metro and airport-road access, the area consolidates its position as one of North Bengaluru's most connected junctions, benefiting everything built in its immediate catchment.
- This is a multi-year project, not an immediate change. With land clearances still being worked through and an initial three-year construction target once building starts in earnest, buyers should treat this as a long-term value driver to factor into a hold period, not something that changes commute times this year.
Projects in the Catchment
Luxura Habitat currently markets several Hennur-Thanisandra developments that sit within this broader Hebbal catchment, including Assetz Mizu and Ki on Hennur Road, Concorde Neo and Concorde Sienna in Thanisandra and Hennur respectively, Sattva La Vita on Hennur, and Goyal Orchid Salisbury in Thanisandra. We've also covered the area's broader connectivity fundamentals in our Hennur connectivity guide and Hennur-Thanisandra market overview.
The Bottom Line
The Hebbal-Silk Board tunnel remains a multi-year project working through land and regulatory clearances, and this latest defence land request is a sign of forward motion rather than a finish line. For buyers evaluating the Hennur-Thanisandra belt, it's one more structural reason this part of North Bengaluru keeps showing up on connectivity-driven investment theses, alongside the metro and ORR upgrades already underway. Talk to our team if you're weighing a purchase in this corridor.
