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I did Hyderabad-Noida-Hyderabad in the last two weeks of May. Here is my take on the road conditions:

1. Telangana stretch is fantastic, except a section near Adilabad which is patched up. This section is also good and you can maintain good speeds
2. 40KMs from Pankharwada onwards is quite bad. Looked like they are relaying this section, though progress seemed on the slow side to me. So, I guess another 6 months and this painful section will also get better
3. Good roads till Lakhnadon
4. ~300KMs (till about 40KMs short of Lalitpur) is patchy road. If you like babying your car, you will be varying your speed in this section and avoiding the patches as much as you can. Still ok and you can get average of 60-65 KM/H. Also, about a dozen flyovers being built, so there are diversions but these have been managed well by NHAI
5. Fantastic stretch till Gwalior, especially till Jhansi
6. Gwalior to Agra is congested and not enjoyable
7. YEP gets boring after a while, but you cover good distance quickly

Overall, enjoyed the drive both ways. Finally understood India's topography which I studied in school 30 odd years back :) - Deccan Plateau, Satpura, Vindhyas, Narmada Valley, Bundelkhand, Gangetic Plains, etc.

Thank you for the suggestion. I will be traveling from Gurgaon to Bangalore on June 19. I have planned my journey along the western corridor. From Kushtala Interchange near Sawai Madhopur, I will be heading towards Vadodara (or Kevaria to see the Statue of Unity). From there, it will be Mumbai - Pune - Hubli - Bangalore. Hope to have a good drive considering the vehicle is a Ford Endeavour. Will post the detailed itinerary, road conditions and food options once I reach Bangalore

Hi all!

So I recently got a 530d M sport from Delhi, and drove her down to Bangalore last week. I read this thread to get the best route option, and chose the Delhi-Agra-Gwalior-Jhansi-Sagar-Adilabad-Hyderabad-Bangalore route.

Some highlights from the drive -

Day 1
1. The expressway from Delhi to Agra is amazing, as expected. I could really test my car on this leg (getting out of Delhi still took me an hour from my hotel - Hilton Saket).
2. Soon as you get off the expressway, there is a diversion which is akin to a small village road, patchy, less potholes and more craters, banged my front right rim on one such crater even at 10 kmph, and lasts for a few km.
3. As everyone here has experienced and mentioned, the stretch from Agra all the way to Jhansi via Gwalior is full of cattle. I'm surprised this is the case for years now, and nothing is done to rectify this. I unfortunately saw a couple of them hit and lifeless as well.
4. Jhansi to Sagar had much less cattle, but there were a lot of sudden potholes which bent at least 2 of my rims, and I could feel new wobbles in my car right away. I was maintaining 80 kmph, which felt nothing with the inline 6 power, but even that seemed a lot keeping in mind sudden deep potholes even on a seemingly good patch of road.

Night halt in Sagar at Hotel Deepali because I was very wary of driving at night with these sudden potholes. Even the 45-60 min drive after sunset was tense due to this. The hotel is quite nice, and had ample parking for me to not worry about my new car. The food was quite nice too, and very affordable.

Day 2
1. Started the morning expecting to get to Hyderabad by sunset, and if not, Adilabad as a backup.
2. The entire day was spent driving on seemingly good roads, but with sudden potholes, and a lot of truck traffic.
3. I went through at least 7-10 potholes on this day, and was very nervous on my rims keeping up. I avoided lunch, and had protein bars on the day to save on daylight driving, and still ended up being around Adilabad by sunset due to the absolutely terrible roads all across MP.
4. Right after the border of MP and Telangana, I went through a pothole, and my front left tyre burst immediately. I stopped at the BP fuel station right there, and they informed me of a puncture shop a km down the road. Seeing as how the tyre had already burst, I crawled all the way to the puncture shop literally outside the RTO checkpost, and they said the tyre will need to be replaced as it had 2 huge holes where it had burst. They couldn't even patch it for a drive to Adilabad 6-7 km away. They tried to source the 245/45, but could only manage 255/65 used one, and that was too big. After spending about 90 min on the side of the highway in the rains, I was right where I began, with a burst tyre which couldn't be patched at all. I decided to crawl to Adilabad and spend the night there and look for a proper used replacement tyre the next morning. See pics before of the terrible roads and my car in distress.





Night halt in Adilabad at Hotel Sai Panchvati, which I read on some posts here. Very local hotel, would not even look at it again if I had a choice. Didn't even check their free breakfast because of the hygiene level of the hotel. Thankfully there was a guard so I felt a bit secure about my car.

Day 3
1. Started the day looking for tyre shops to get a replacement. The initial plan was to get to Hyderabad, get new tyres all throughout, and get to Bangalore on day 4. But I was able to find a used Pirelli with the same specs for around 4k, and decided to get to Hyderabad and look for something there.
2. Since I started late and only was getting till Hyderabad and didn't have breakfast either, I stopped at Sardarji Family Dhaba which had a lot of cars outside, so felt safe. Quite decent food, and hygiene was as good as one can expect from a dhaba.
3. The roads were considerably better the entire day, and became almost pothole free post Nirmal. I was maintaining a speed between 60 and 80 all throughout to be on the safe side, driving with a used tyre. While entering Hyderabad was quite hectic with the traffic (around 5 pm), once I got to the outer ring road, it was just pure bliss. I wish I had all great tyres so I could maintain 120 as allowed, but I stuck to speeds between 60 and 80.
4. Since the car felt stable, and the roads had become immensely better, I decided to keep going all the way to Bangalore, even with night driving. This decision worked out well, because I didn't have to worry about daylight getting over, and the car traffic also reduced quite a bit.
5. The entire stretch from Hyderabad to Bangalore had no issues, and I was able to maintain constant speeds, while not having to worry about errant drivers except a couple here and there (specifically big Fortuner-esque SUVs). The BMW's headlights lit up the road all the way to Bangalore, and I didn't realise how safe that made me felt in the night, even with my tyre condition.
6. I reached Bangalore around 1 am, from the airport side, and home in Indiranagar before 2 am. As expected, the airport road had heavy traffic.

At the end, my front two tyres both have air bumps, and I am trying to source new tyres since I've been back.

TL;DR
The drive from Delhi to Bangalore via Jhansi-Hyderabad is not recommended at all for luxury cars. I understand the roads are worse due to the rains, but I've read about the potholes being present in other posts of drives done during in other seasons too. I would much rather try the Delhi-Mumbai-Bangalore route which has a lot of expressways, and is generally maintained much more. I am not sure of the traffic situation there though.

I got the short end of the stick with a tyre burst, but I would still not do this again, specially the stretch in MP, and spare my car the trouble.

You could not have had it tougher with such a lovely car at your disposal. I cant even imagine how you managed 60-80kmph in that car for the length of the country. You should have certainly done a little more work on the road conditions. I did the same road from Bangalore to Delhi in a Getaway and that hardy Mahindra cenceded defeat with a gearbox failure near Sagar. The Delhi Mumbai expressway and then the solapur Chitradurga road is the way to travel in the present times.

Sorry to hear your troubles.

Really surprised to hear the state of the these roads as I did these with family twice recently. Once in Dec when we did Bangalore-Hyderabad-Nagpur to Varanasi and in June again when we did Blr-Hyd-Ngp-Gwalior-Agra-Delhi all the way to Kedarnath.

Except the Gwalior Agra section which we found very congested and some poor stretches around Jhansi all the roads were good to excellent.

While we did in our Ford Endeavour, I still felt these were doable with sedans. Must be quite a deterioration due to rains this year.

Such an amazing car that. I am sure you would have enjoyed in better conditions.

Oh you had it even worse. Hope you got to Delhi eventually! That entire stretch in MP can break your back. And agree, via Mumbai seems much better.

I agree, and that's why I drove from Hyd to Blr even in the night because good roads and I could feel the car. But till we reach Telangana, the roads are not for luxury cars at all. Not in the current state.

Also, I forgot to mention about the amount for the journey -

I got a new IDFC Fastag before the Yamuna Expressway, and the app is much better than the Kotak platform I use for my other car.

The total toll amount cost IRN 4,980, of which I think the Hyd Blr leg was the cheapest, but the best roads.

The most expensive toll was Peddagolconda - 180

There were a total of 34 tolls, including the Blr airport road toll.

Overall expense - ~22,946

Hotels
1. Deepali hotel, Sagat - 2,500 + tax = 2,950
2. Sai Panchvati hotel, Adilabad - 1,800 + tax = 2,016

Fuel (diesel)
~13,000

Toll
4,980

If any of you use the highway between Bangalore and Delhi via Mumbai and Rajasthan, do let me know of the road status! I'd not be too keen to take the other option because of the roads.

Thank you for this information and sorry to hear about your struggles. I was considering driving this stretch in December but doesn't look like it would be practical to drive a BMW from your experience, particularly the ones with low profile tires. What time did you start from Hilton Saket?

Google maps gives an alternate route through Kota, Aurangabad, Solapur (NH 52 all through). The travel time is more or less the same with the distance about 30km less. This may be a road less traveled from Delhi to Bangalore, so it might be both good and bad.

Could one do Nagpur to Bangalore the same day? Looks like you did it with some night driving, but google makes it 18 hours for slightly under 1100km - 18 hours seem excessive to me if the roads are reasonably good with the mix of speed limits from 80 and 120 (or is it 130 on the Hyderabad ORR).

Perhaps, it is possible to drive very slowly from Delhi to Jhansi and Jhansi to Nagpur in two+ days taking 12 hours each and then go at the speed limit the rest of the way? This may be another alternative if one remains lucky not to get a flat tire along the way.

The only sections where you can maintain consistent speeds without stressing about potholes and craters are Delhi-Agra and Hyderabad-Bangalore. The rest of the roads are not maintained at all, and while they are not terrible roads so as to need an SUV, they require full attention to avoid potholes (and cattle between Agra and Jhansi). You can't drive with that much stress for 8-10 hours each day.

I started from Hilton Saket a bit late, around 9 am (took me an hour to exit NCR). Got to Deepali Hotel in Sagar by 7.30-8 pm.

Nagpur to Bangalore can't be done in a day because the section till Nirmal (a few hours before Hyd) is still in bad shape. Since I spent the night in Adilabad and could only leave by 11.30 am due to the tyre replacement, I thought I'd get to Hyderabad by evening (it is 6 hours from Adilabad) and spend the evening looking for a new set of tyres and get to Blr the next day. I got to Hyd ORR (speed limit 120) by 5, and since the tyres were working absolutely fine, I decided to push till I could and stop for the night only if I felt it was unsafe. But since that last stretch was great, I decided to haul it and entered Bangalore from the airport around 1 am. So the driving after dark was all on the Hyd-Blr stretch, which was comfortable and had less traffic too.

My concern with night driving has been adequate lighting, but this car's lights were more than enough for me to feel safe haha.

I would try the Del-Mumbai-Blr route if I was doing this again. But if I had to choose this same route, I would do Del-Sagar on day 1, then Sagar to Adilabad/Hyd on day 2, and rest on day 3. Nagpur is too far to drive from Delhi or Blr in 1 day.

Yes, a 9am start from Saket will set you back quite a bit. I think one needs to start at 5am on the first day from NCR and plan to pull over and rest by 6pm at the latest with these road conditions. So, Delhi to Sagar seems to be doable in that time frame, but Sagar to Hyderabad is about 900km, so with breaks it might push close to 14 hours. If one can have some extra days, I think NCR-Jhansi-Nagpur-Hyderabad-Bangalore may be a bit more relaxed driving. One can probably sleep in and start late from Hyderabad to Bangalore too.

I am not sure however, one can avoid all potholes and craters even with very careful driving. It will become very tiring to constantly swerve even at speeds less than 50kmph.

I would be interested in hearing about the road conditions along NH52. Seems like an alternative for the most part and goes close to both Ajanta and Ellora caves. So, if someone wants to have a visit to the Ajanta or Ellora caves, that might be an option too.

So, on my trip from Bangalore to Ladakh and back, I took the NE4 to and fro. Here's the road conditions:

Onward Journey:

Bangalore - Vijayapura : Road works upto Tumkur, 6 lanes from Tumkur to Chitradurga with 1-2 flyovers under construction. Chitradurga to Vijayapura, good 4 lanes. Dearth of eateries between Chitradurga to Vijayapura.

Vijayapura - Mangalwedha - Pandharpur - Tembhurni - Karmala - Jategaon : Undivided 2 lanes. Road condition not good, full of potholes.

Jategaon - Ahmednagar bypass - Shirdi - Samruddhi Mahamarg intersection - Kopargaon: 4 lanes, but lot of construction work.

Kopargaon - Yeola - Manmad - Chandwad - Undivided 2 lane highway, some concrete patch, overall better than previous 4 lane stretch

Chandwad - Malegaon bypass - Dhule Bypass : 4 lanes, good road with humps at few places

Dhule - Shirpur - Sendhwa - Manpur - Badnwar - Ratlam bypass - NE 4: Decent 4 laned highway, road humps at every village. Lots of truck traffic. Eateries are mostly dhabas.

Ratlam NE4 - Chechat: 8 Laned divided super smooth highway.

Chechat - Morak - Kota Bypass : Undivided 2 lane highway, with very high truck traffic and under construction bridge and road.

Kota - Bundi - Tonk - Chaksu - Jaipur: Good 4 laned highway, mix of concrete and tar roads. Lots of food options for veggies, few for others

Jaipur to Narnaul: Good 4 laned highway in Rajasthan. Once you enter Haryana roads are even better

Narnaul to Ambala: Trans Haryana Expressway is a bliss to drive, crossing Haryana easily all the while bypassing entire NCR.

Ambala - Chandigarh - Rupnagar - Manali: Roads are good with a bit of construction until Chandigarh. Went via Dera Bassi, which consumed more time. Rupnagar to Sunder Nagar is very good tolled road. Upto Manali roads are generally good, with a little bit of construction here and there.


Return Journey:
Going through 2 laned highway was a mistake i did and wanted to avoid it. Chandigarh also was to be divided. The farmers blockade at Shambhu border was directly in my path, i planned to go via Patiala in order to avoid Chandigarh and Shambhu border.

Manali - Rupnagar - Fatehgarh Sahib - Patiala - Pehowa: Undivided 2 laned NH, wide enough to 2-3 vehicles to pass each other, but road surface was not good. At places i had to go inside villages and interior roads. Although a welcome change from the highway to see the local life, but it took lot of time and very limited food options.

Pehowa - Trans Haryana Expressway - Jaipur bypass - Kota bypass - NE4 - Ratlam bypass - Dhar - Sendhwa - Shirpur - Dhule: Road conditions similar to as mentioned in the onward journey.

Dhule - Chalisgaon - Kannad Ghat - Aurangabad - Beed - Sholapur - Vijayapur - Bangalore: Good roads throughout. 4 Laned highway with good surface, except in Kannad Ghat which is undivided 2 laned, but wide enough for comfortable overtaking.

I would suggest anyone going near to NCR or beyond to take the route that i took during my return. I took about 3.5 days to reach Bangalore from Pang in Leh - Manali highway for about 3000 KMs. Once the NE4 between Mumbai to Delhi is complete, there would be more options to reach NCR or beyond.

Is the Kannad-Dhule bypass work done? Is anything done to avoid the huge mess at the right turn at Dhule bypass coming from Chalisgaon?

There is one more route from Jaipur via Kota-Biaora-Bhopal-Nagpur-Hyd

Dhule bypass to Kannad ghat is not yet fully done, i would say about 80% completed. Even Chalisgaon bypass is about 80% done.

I was coming the opposite direction, took a left turn from Dhule bypass on to Kannad Ghat road, did not notice much traffic.
I did not notice any construction work on Dhule bypass turn, maybe it is status quo there.

Hi! Anybody driving down from Delhi to Bangalore around Nov 30 or Dec 1?
I am a CA homing back to Bangalore, but saddled with my Cannondale road bike which I don't wish to sell. Options of transporting such a light bike by Rail/ Air/ Transport seems fraught with high risk of damage.
So this shout out �� to folks who maybe driving down around these dates and may have some space in boot/ hatch for a dismantled bike ( takes up very little space and weighs about 8 kgs only). Personal baggage would be ME (5'8" -70kgs )+ a laptop bag only.
I have also driven on this route before ( Solapur & Nagpur routes) and am a handy guy for riding shotgun or spelling some driving duties too plus mechanically inclined so can help sort out any hiccups on the ride.And of course sharing the expenses too goes without saying.
So keeping my fingers crossed �� if I can get someone to help me with transporting my roadie.