sentences:  Pondicherry was reached from Chennai through the still existent route via Tambaram, Tindivanam along NH45.In 2000, the State government signed a concessionaire agreement with the TNRDC in order to improve the road, at a cost of 60 crore.The 113-km long stretch from Akkarai to Pondicherry, dotted with resorts and beach houses, became a toll facility in March 2002 and was upgraded into a two-lane road from a small winding road passing through 154 villages.