Packers and Movers from Mumbai to Chennai

Four states between Mumbai and Chennai

After the climb up the Western Ghats, the fastest road route on OpenStreetMap runs south-east across the Deccan through Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, then drops into Tamil Nadu. It isn't one long highway but a chain of them. The longest pieces are NH67 at about 240 km, NH716 and NH50 at roughly 190 km each, NH965 at about 180 km and NH561A at around 100 km, joined by shorter links.

Along the way the road passes near Akluj in Solapur district at about 310 km, Kushtagi in north Karnataka at around 610 km, and Yerraguntla in the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh at roughly 920 km. Most of it is flat, dry farm country with long straight stretches, broken by low rocky hills in Rayalaseema before the land levels out again towards the Tamil Nadu coast.

Why 15 hours of driving takes most of a week

Driving time on this route is about 15 hours, but a loaded truck doesn't cover that in one sitting. The driver needs sleep, heavy vehicles crawl on ghat sections and through town bypasses, and a truck crossing four states never keeps a car's pace. Door to door, the usual estimate is 5–7 days, and the time goes on these.

• A full packing and loading day in Mumbai, which can run into the evening for a 3 BHK.
• Several driving days, with overnight halts along the highway.
• For a shared truck, waiting to fill up in Mumbai and dropping other customers' goods before yours.
• Waiting outside Chennai until heavy vehicles are allowed in, then fitting unloading into your building's move-in hours.

Book your own flight for a day or two after loading, not the same night. You'll want to be in Chennai with the keys and the building's permission letter before the truck shows up, without camping in an empty flat for days.

Shared or dedicated for 1,230 km?

The choice matters more here than on a short run. A shared truck costs less, but it may sit in Mumbai until there's enough load, and it can stop to deliver in other southern cities before reaching Chennai. Your goods get restacked around other people's each time something comes off. For a student, a single room or a few pieces of furniture, that's a fair trade for the saving.

For a family home we'd usually point you to a dedicated truck. It leaves as soon as your loading is done, runs straight to Chennai and is opened only at your door. That matters when glass-top tables, TVs and crockery packed in Perfect Box cartons are riding over four states of highway.

Paperwork and tolls on the way south

• No e-way bill, usually. Personal household goods don't normally need one. Keep the signed inventory, an ID copy and your Chennai address with the driver, since that's what shows the load is your own belongings.
• Tolls. The national highways on this route have toll plazas in all four states, paid through the truck's FASTag.
• Your car. Sending it by car carrier means handing over RC, insurance and PUC copies. If you're settling in Tamil Nadu, plan to re-register it there, or ask about a BH series number if your employer makes you eligible.
• What stays out of the truck. Gas cylinders, petrol, kerosene, paint thinners and acids. Several days in a hot, closed truck is exactly the wrong place for them.

Two monsoons and a hot middle stretch

Mumbai's heavy rain falls from about June to September, when the Ghats out of the city are wet and slow. Chennai gets most of its rain later, with the northeast monsoon from October to December. So a July move risks a soaked loading day, and a November move risks a soaked unloading day. January to March is the comfortable window at both ends.

The middle of the route has a different problem. From April to June the interior of north Karnataka and Rayalaseema gets very hot, and a closed truck body gets hotter still. Candles, wax polish, chocolates, cosmetics, medicines and vinyl records should travel with you, not in the back. Goods packed in Mumbai's humid air can also sweat in that heat, so pack electronics bone dry, and tuck a few silica gel sachets into camera and laptop boxes.

Loading in Mumbai, unloading in Chennai

A family move over this distance goes in a big closed container truck, and plenty of Mumbai compounds and old-building lanes can't take one for a full day of loading. A smaller vehicle then ferries goods to wherever it's parked on a wider road, so allow extra hours. From Navi Mumbai or the eastern suburbs, the truck reaches the road to the Ghats sooner than from the western suburbs or South Mumbai. For NOCs, lift bookings and monsoon packing at that end, see our Mumbai page.

Chennai restricts heavy goods vehicles on many city roads during busy hours, so an afternoon arrival can mean waiting on the outskirts until evening or the next morning. Moving into a complex on OMR or in Velachery? Get the move-in permission and service lift booked before the truck leaves Mumbai, and send your move manager a photo of the rules. Our Chennai page goes into the city's neighbourhoods and its rainy season.

See the full Mumbai to Chennai charges breakdown