Eye on polls, Prithviraj Chavan clears two mega projects

With the Lok Sabha elections just a few months away, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has started clearing  projects which were gathering dust for over a year now. Interestingly, these projects are moved by the Maharashtra  State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), which is headed by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).  On Wednesday, Chavan cleared the Bandra-Versova Sea Link and Pune Ring Road projects, both estimated to  be worth Rs14,453 crore. Observers feel that this move by the chief minister is an attempt to keep  ally NCP in a good mood before the elections.             

According to a source, the MSRDC will now be able to go ahead with the implementation and execution of the  10km-long Bandra-Versova Sea Link project by calling for tenders. The project, with an estimated price tag of  Rs4,045 crore is an extension of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. The plan is to erect the bridge 900 metres inside  the Arabian Sea. The Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) had approved the project in January 2013.

The other big-ticket project, Pune Ring Road, is worth Rs10,408 crore. It will be around 170km long. Out of the entire projected price, Rs7,560  crore will be for the cost of construction and Rs2,848 crore is earmarked for land acquisition.