Union Cabinet approves construction of JNPA Port-Chowk expressway in Maharashtra

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the construction of a 30-km-long six-lane expressway, which includes two tunnels, from Jawarharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) at Pagote to Chowk in Maharashtra. The project will be developed on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) mode at a total capital cost of ₹4,500.62 crore.

This access-controlled greenfield high-speed national highway project is in line with the PM Gatishakti National Master Plan principles of having integrated multimodal connectivity for efficient transfer of goods, connecting the port with the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport, a government release said. The project alignment starts at JNPA port (NH 348) (Pagote village) and ends at Mumbai-Pune Highway (NH-48) while also linking Mumbai Pune Expressway and Mumbai Goa National highway (NH-66).

“Currently, it takes 2-3 hours for vehicles to move from JNPA Port to the arterial Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) section of NH-48 and Mumbai – Pune Expressway due to heavy congestion in urban areas like Palaspe Phata, D-Point, Kalamboli junction, Panvel,” the release said. “After the operationalisation of Navi Mumbai airport in 2025, the need for direct connectivity is expected to increase further,” it added.

It said that two tunnels passing through Sahayadri will allow for safe and fast movement of commercial vehicles including heavy trucks compared to the hilly ghat roads.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet has also approved sanction of ₹2,790 crore for dairy development across the country and ₹1,500 crore worth of incentives to promote low-value person-to- erchant UPI transactions.