Four-lane Western Bhopal Bypass to cut Indore-Jabalpur traffic through city

The Madhya Pradesh cabinet has granted revised administrative approval for the 35.61-km Western Bhopal Bypass, a four-lane road planned to divert through traffic away from the city.

The bypass has a project cost of Rs 3,225.51 crore under the hybrid annuity model, while another Rs 548.29 crore has been earmarked for pre-construction activities. Together, the two components take the reported allocation to about Rs 3,774 crore.

The road will have paved shoulders and is planned to provide an alternative route for vehicles travelling between Indore and the Jabalpur-Narmadapuram side without having to enter Bhopal.

According to the Times of India report, the bypass is expected to reduce the journey by around 21 km for traffic making these longer-distance movements.

The revised administrative approval was among a series of decisions taken by the Madhya Pradesh cabinet on Tuesday.

The Western Bhopal Bypass is intended to separate through traffic from local city traffic, reducing the need for vehicles travelling across the region to pass through Bhopal’s urban road network.

The project has been structured under the hybrid annuity model, with the main project expenditure estimated at Rs 3,225.51 crore and pre-construction requirements estimated at Rs 548.29 crore.

The cabinet also approved Rs 3,272 crore for the Mehlua-Bina-Khimlasa-Malthone road.

The bypass forms part of the state’s broader effort to strengthen road connectivity around Bhopal and improve movement between the capital and major cities and regions in western, central and eastern Madhya Pradesh.

The latest cabinet decision gives the Western Bhopal Bypass a revised administrative sanction, while the project itself remains subject to the next stages of implementation.