Bangalore Business Corridor PRR-2 Work Picks Up Pace After Nearly Two Decades

The long-pending Bengaluru Business Corridor also known as Peripheral Ring Road (PRR-2) project in Bengaluru is finally moving forward after nearly two decades of delays. The updated alignment between Mysuru Road and Hosur Road, including planned adjustments along Bannerghatta Road, has begun taking shape, giving residents hope that the city's traffic burden will eventually be eased. The project, which was first notified in 2005 and 2006 and received a final notification in 2011 for land acquisition between Magadi Road and Mysuru Road, has been slowed down repeatedly because of legal disputes, compensation challenges, and pending land notifications. Many landowners are still in the dark about the government's long-term plans, even as the need for better connectivity grows more urgent each year.

Despite the prolonged uncertainty, PRR-2 remains one of Bengaluru's most critical infrastructure links. It is expected to connect major arterial roads and redirect heavy traffic that currently floods the city's internal stretches. The road will serve as the missing link required to complete the city's ring road system, especially benefiting areas along Mysuru Road, Kanakapura Road, Bannerghatta Road, and Hosur Road. The delay, however, continues to frustrate residents who have been waiting for congestion relief and improved mobility for years.

In a significant push toward real implementation, the State government has now approved the Bangalore Development Authority's proposal to develop six new residential layouts along the PRR-2 corridor stretching from Tumakuru Road to Hosur Road through Magadi Road, Mysuru Road, and Kanakapura Road. The largest of these layouts, covering more than 4,200 acres, will be developed along Kanakapura Road. This massive layout is also expected to include an industrial area and is coming up near Kaggalipura, one of the shortlisted sites for Bengaluru's proposed second international airport. Harohalli, another shortlisted airport site, lies just 15 kilometres from Kaggalipura, while the third potential site is located along the Nelamangala-Kunigal Road. The remaining five layouts are much smaller in scale, including one layout that spans only 84 acres, and have been chosen in areas with minimal existing development to simplify land acquisition.

The BDA plans to use these new layouts to compensate landowners affected by the PRR-2 project. The authority is adopting the same compensation strategy it used successfully for the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout (NPKL), where land losers were offered 40 percent developed land and 60 percent cash. This model was applied during the acquisition of 321 acres for the 10-km stretch between Mysuru Road and Magadi Road, which now forms part of the NPKL network. Encouraged by its success, the BDA intends to follow this hybrid compensation structure while acquiring land for the remaining stretches of PRR-2. The Hosur Road to Mysuru Road segment alone requires about 860 acres, according to officials.

The PRR project is being rolled out in two phases. Phase 1 covers a 67-km stretch between Tumakuru Road and Hosur Road via Ballari Road, Old Madras Road, and Sarjapur Road. The BDA is raising ₹27,000 crore from HUDCO to fund this phase. Phase 2, which includes the 53-km PRR-2 stretch connecting Tumakuru Road and Hosur Road through Magadi Road, Mysuru Road, and Kanakapura Road, has been designated a Major Arterial Road. While 10 kilometres of this alignment, passing through NPKL, has been completed, the remaining 43 kilometres will now be developed in two parts. One stretches from Hosur Road to Mysuru Road, covering 35 kilometres, while the other runs from Magadi Road to Tumakuru Road, spanning 8 kilometres. The newly approved layouts will be developed along these segments and will also serve as compensation clusters for landowners whose properties are acquired.

Even as the BDA pushes ahead with fresh projects, concerns continue to mount regarding its existing layouts. Residents of NPKL have repeatedly highlighted the lack of basic civic infrastructure in the layout, which has been declared a "defaulter" by the Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA-K). The president of the NPKL Open Forum, Chenna Basavaraju M. E., has urged the BDA to complete and upgrade older layouts before taking up new ones. Similar grievances exist in Arkavathy Layout, Visvesvaraya Layout, and Banashankari VI Stage, where residents are still waiting for adequate infrastructure. Adding to the pressure on the BDA, the newly formed Dr. K. Shivarama Karanth Layout, which has 30,000 sites ready for allotment, remains stuck due to a High Court stay.

While the latest government approval signals a fresh attempt to revive PRR-2, the success of the project will depend on timely land acquisition, transparent compensation, and the BDA's ability to improve credibility by completing the infrastructure in its older layouts. If the agency can overcome these long-standing challenges, PRR-2 could finally evolve into one of Bengaluru's most transformative mobility corridors, shaping the city's growth for decades to come.