BENGALURU
BIOCON Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has said that Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari assured her that the heavily congested Hosur Road stretch in Hebbagodi will be restored to better condition by the end of April.
Mazumdar-Shaw said she raised concerns about the poor condition of National Highway 44 earlier this month through a post on X, describing the stretch as badly designed and poorly maintained. She also highlighted the lack of response to repeated complaints about daily traffic snarls affecting commuters and industry employees in the region.
Following her post, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) responded stating that the road, completed in 2010, now carries far higher traffic volumes due to rapid urban expansion around Bengaluru’s industrial corridors.
Shaw later met Gadkari, who she said acknowledged the poor condition of the highway and assured swift action. “He was very helpful. He said he was upset that the national highway was in such bad shape and promised to improve it,” she said on the sidelines of the STAMP (Nudging Commuter Behaviour) event.
She also pointed out persistent congestion near the BIOCON Hebbagodi Metro station, where thousands of employees face daily delays.
Meanwhile, over 1,000 BIOCON employees have shifted from private vehicles to public transport under the STAMP initiative, a mobility programme developed by WRI India in collaboration with the Toyota Mobility Foundation. The system uses a dedicated app to help employees plan, track, and pay for multi-modal journeys involving metro, bus, and feeder services.
Greater Bengaluru Authority Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao said corporate participation is crucial in reducing congestion. He urged other companies to adopt similar models to help Bengaluru move towards a more sustainable and less traffic-choked future.