Karnataka Passes Two Bills to Clear Hurdles for Bengaluru Twin Tunnel Project

The Karnataka government passed two amendment Bills in both Houses of the State legislature on Monday, August 24, to clear legal hurdles facing the North-South Twin Tunnel project in Bengaluru, which requires land at Lalbagh. The legislative move came a day after Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani visited Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar at his residence, following the group emerging as the lowest bidder for the project.

The legislature passed The Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and The Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) (Amendment) Bill, 2026. The move directly addresses issues raised in three Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed in the High Court of Karnataka, in which petitioners contended that the project violated both existing statutes.

Under the BMLTA Amendment Bill, 2026, projects initiated after the commencement of the BMLTA Act, 2022, and prior to the notification of the BMLTA Rules on July 3 will receive deemed approval. Previously, Section 19 of the 2022 Act required the Authority to approve all major urban mobility projects in the city, an approval the tunnel road lacked.

The amendment to the Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) Act allows the alienation of up to 5% of park and garden lands for public purposes. The tunnel road project requires one acre of land from Lalbagh permanently, alongside six acres temporarily for construction work, which was prohibited under the original 1975 Act.

Both Bills were cleared by the State Cabinet on Friday before being passed in the legislature amid opposition protests. Members of the BJP and JD(S) raised slogans against the government during the session, accusing it of favouring the Adani Group in connection with the project.

Petitioners challenging the tunnel road condemned the retrospective amendments. N.S. Mukunda, one of the petitioners in the High Court, described the step as deeply undemocratic and an attempt to render their legal grounds infructuous in retrospect. He stated that petitioners would continue to challenge the matter in court and petition the Governor to withhold assent to the Bills.

The High Court had earlier directed on July 16, 2026, that any contract awarded for the tunnel road would remain subject to the outcome of the three PILs. The petitions have also highlighted other statutory non-compliances, including the lack of approval from the Bengaluru Metropolitan Planning Committee and the project's absence from the Revised Master Plan - 2015.