Maharashtra seeks global bids to push construction of Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) on Monday invited global bids for the construction of the 701-km Mumbai Nagpur Super Communications Expressway.The move will push the project spearheaded by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The MSRDC, which invited a request for qualification (RFQ), has divided the civil construction of the Expressway into 16 packages to speed up the work of the Rs46,000-crore project. The civil construction is estimated to cost Rs27,650 crore. “We have invited the RFQ and the qualification process will take about two to three months. We plan to issue a work order by June so that the actual work can start by September or October,” said RL Mopalwar, vice chairman and managing director of MSRDC

According to MSRDC officials, initially, the plan was to construct the Expressway in five packages. “Apart from speeding up the work, dividing it into smaller packages will be beneficial for the contractors,” explained an MSRDC official.

The expressway, which is also called ‘Maharashtra Prosperity Corridor’, will pass through nearly a dozen districts; most of them spread over backward Vidarbha and Marathwada regions. Touted as the project that will change the landscape of rural Maharashtra, it envisages development of townships and development nodes along the expressway, that would generate employment and boost agricultural and agro-based activities.

Setting 2019 as the deadline, the biggest challenge before the government is to acquire 20,820 hectares through a land-pooling model. Mopalwar said that consulting residents of 354 villages for land pooling was progressing well and the MSRDC had secured 30% of the required land. “Negotiations were on with the landowners; so far we have got about 30% of the required land and will ask for another 20%,” Mopalwar said.

The corporation plans to raise Rs26,750 crore from a multilateral agency and domestic market for the expressway. Of the Rs 26,750 crore, MSRDC is in discussion with Asian Development Bank for funds close to Rs13,750 crore. MSRDC has roped in SBI Caps to raise the remaining funds.

Highway of Growth

•701-km Expressway with a design speed of 150km/h

•Eight land access-controlled Expressway

•Over 400 Vehicular underpasses, over 300 pedestrian underpasses and 50 flyovers.

•For seamless traffic on Expressway, toll plazas will be placed on connectors and not on the Expressway

•The project, which will pass through the backward region and 30 tehsils, will also have 24 development nodes or prosperity hubs, which include truck terminuses, commercial sites, knowledge city, IT industries, manufacturing units, etc.

•Each Node will generate employment for about 20,000 to 25,000 persons

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