The last arm of the Perungalathur road overbridge opened on 11 October 2026, 26 years after money was first set aside for it. The coverage focused on the wait. This piece looks at the cost that grew alongside it, and at the Parliament data showing that Perungalathur’s problems are common across Tamil Nadu.
The numbers
What was reported. DT Next reported on 13 October that the eastern arm, linking Sadanandapuram and Nedunkundram, had opened to traffic on Sunday without a formal announcement. It had no working streetlights, a narrow exit and no proper service roads. Deccan Chronicle reported the same day that the stretch opened around 6.30 pm with no ceremony, completing a project first planned in 2000.
Four arms over four years, after two decades of waiting
The bridge came into use one piece at a time. From the reports, the sequence was:
| Section | Opened |
|---|---|
| First arm, one-way traffic | September 2022 |
| Second section, across the tracks to Kamaraj High Road | June 2023 |
| Third arm, Tambaram to Chengalpattu direction | 1 August 2024 |
| Eastern arm, Sadanandapuram to Nedunkundram | 11 October 2026 |
Source: DT Next, 13 October 2026. The project was first allocated funds in 2000.
The reported reasons for the delay included slow early progress, land acquisition disputes, the Covid lockdown, moving an electricity substation (DT Next said NHAI paid for the new one) and forest land. Deccan Chronicle said the final arm was held back until a separate Eastern Bypass Road could be finished, and that road needed 4.46 hectares of forest land whose acquisition took about two years.
The numbers nobody ran: cost per year of delay
Both outlets give the same starting point: ₹86 crore allocated in 2000. They give the revision differently. DT Next says the estimate rose to ₹235 crore in 2018 and lists the project at ₹262 crore. Deccan Chronicle says a revised ₹235 crore scheme was approved in 2020. No official final cost has been published in a document we could find.
Even taking the lower revised figure, the estimate grew about 2.7 times. Spread across the 18 to 20 years between the first allocation and the revision, that works out to roughly ₹7.5 crore to ₹8.3 crore added for every year the project stayed unfinished. If ₹262 crore is the final figure, the bridge cost about three times its first estimate.
Growth from the ₹86 crore first allocation to the ₹235 crore revised estimate, as reported by DT Next and Deccan Chronicle. Our arithmetic.
Who pays: the 50:50 rule
For a bridge that replaces a level crossing, the cost is usually shared. The State Highways projects page describes road overbridges and underbridges under the Railway Works Programme as a 50:50 venture between the State and the Railways. The Highways department builds the road approaches and the Railways build the span over the tracks.
The reports say the Highways department and the railway administration led Perungalathur, but they do not set out its exact funding split. What the general rule makes clear is that delays on the State’s side, such as land acquisition, alignment and clearances, add to the cost of the whole bridge. The Railways cannot finish its share until the State has finished its own.
It’s often said railway overbridges in Tamil Nadu are slow because the Railways drag their feet.
The record shows the Railways’ own answer to Parliament in August 2025 attributed 82 pending Tamil Nadu projects to reasons on the State side, led by consent to close level crossings and alignment decisions. That is the Ministry’s account, and the State has not given a matching breakdown.
Perungalathur is not unusual
In Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4535, answered on 20 August 2025, the Railway Minister said 235 road overbridges and underbridges had been sanctioned in Tamil Nadu as of 1 April 2025, including 104 on a cost-sharing basis. Of these, 82 were held up for reasons the answer attributed to the State Government:
| Reason given | Projects |
|---|---|
| Consent for closing level crossings | 26 |
| Finalisation of alignment | 23 |
| Delay in land acquisition | 22 |
| Law and order or public protest | 11 |
| Total held up | 82 |
Source: Ministry of Railways, reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4535, 20 August 2025. Position as of 1 April 2025.
That is about one in three sanctioned projects. The same answer said 747 bridges of this type were built in Tamil Nadu between 2014 and June 2025. The State Highways page shows the pipeline from the State’s side: 22 Railway Works Programme works in progress worth ₹736.50 crore and 20 more, worth ₹562.55 crore, still at the land acquisition or estimate stage. Perungalathur ran into land, forest clearance and utility shifting, which matches the categories in the Railways’ answer.
What the city side maintains
Chennai’s own stock of rail crossings is small. The Corporation’s Bridges department lists 12 road overbridges, 16 road underbridges or subways and 14 flyovers among 283 structures it maintains. Perungalathur, outside the Corporation’s core area, was a State Highways and Railways job. That matters for residents’ complaints. Streetlights and service roads on the new arm are a matter for the Highways department, which Deccan Chronicle linked to the lighting and road widening still to come, and not for the ward office.
What this means for you
- The eastern arm is open, but reports say it has no working streetlights yet. Drive slowly after dark and watch the narrow exit.
- Complaints about lighting and service roads on the bridge go to the State Highways department, not the local body.
- For any level-crossing bridge planned near you, the slow stages tend to be land acquisition and the consent to close the crossing. Public hearings and alignment notices are worth following early.
- A cost figure quoted at the start of a project is rarely the final one. Ask for the revised administrative sanction when you check progress.
What to watch
Pending
Streetlights and service roads on the eastern arm. No completion date has been announced.
Pending
Publication of a final, audited cost for the project, which would settle the gap between the ₹235 crore and ₹262 crore figures in the reports.
Checked against official sources on 4 November 2026. Details may change; confirm on the linked official pages.
Sources
- Reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4535 on ROBs and RUBs in Tamil Nadu, Ministry of Railways, 20 August 2025
- Projects Wing: Railway Works Programme and ROBs, Highways Department, Government of Tamil Nadu
- Bridges Department: structures maintained, Greater Chennai Corporation
- Perungalathur ROB opens to public after 26 years amid safety concerns, DT Next, 13 October 2026
- After 26 years, all phases of Perungalathur flyover completed and opened, Deccan Chronicle, 13 October 2026
