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Maharashtra: Mega projects, mega cost - Story of rising cost & delayed deadline

The notification further says that if this projects gets delayed due to any unforeseen reasons, the escalated cost will be sanctioned by the State Cabinet.

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Mumbai-Nagpur Super Expressway
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Maharashtra's Public Works Department (PWD) has finally given administrative approval for the Rs 6,088 crore cost escalation for the 700-km Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway, also called the Samruddhi Mahamarg.

According to the PWD notification, the earlier estimated cost to build the expressway was Rs 49,347 crore. "It has been increased to Rs 55,335 crore now. Besides, various benefits such as exemptions in stamp duty and registrations has been also given. After 10 years, a re-evaluation of these will be done. During the constructions of this mega project, the interest cost will be borne by the state government. The work is likely to be completed in the next 30 months," the notification stated. The reasons behind this cost escalation is the rise in compensation packages offered to farmers, inflation, and interests to be paid on loan raised for this project.

Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), the nodal agency, divided the mega project into 13 packages. Effectively meaning, more firms will be working on it. This is expected to help to complete the work early. The project will connect 10 districts, 26 talukas, and 392 villages in Maharashtra. It will also help reduce the current travel time of 18 hours between the Nagpur and Mumbai to nine hours.

The notification further says that if this projects gets delayed due to any unforeseen reasons, the escalated cost will be sanctioned by the State Cabinet.

MTHL

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has also recently increased the cost of the 22-km Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project. The MMRDA has estimated an expense of Rs 12,600 crore for the civil construction out of the total cost of Rs 17,800 crore for the project. It will connect Sewri in South Mumbai to Nhava (Chirle) in Navi Mumbai. The price of the project has increased by around 350 per cent. In 2005, the cost was of MTHL was estimated at Rs 4,000 crore. This project is expected to complete in 2023. The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is funding almost 85 per cent of the project cost of MTHL.

NAVI MUMBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (NMIA)

The construction cost of phase I of the proposed Navi Mumbai Airport (NMIA) has been increased from Rs 9,600 crore to Rs 13,562 crore. This is an almost 50 per cent increase and the government claims that the first flight will take off by 2019. However, sources said that it will be completed only in 2021. In 2013, during the Congress-NCP government, the cost proposed for this airport was Rs 9,600 crore. It was first proposed in 1997. In 2007, it got official approval from the state government at an estimated cost of Rs 3,000 crore. The construction of NMIA has been allotted to GVK. The project is located in an area spread across 1,160 ha land.

COASTAL ROAD

The cost of constructing the 10-km coastal road connecting Marine Drive to Worli has also been increased from Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 12,000 crore. This coastal project is likely to be complete by 2022. The cost escalation was attributed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to rise in fuel prices, cement, steel, etc. In 2015, the detailed project report was submitted and at the time the cost of this project was Rs 5,000 crore. It will have a 6.8 km of tunnel and is expected to reduce traffic by 70 per cent.

BANDRA-VERSOVA SEA LINK

The construction cost of the 17-km of Bandra-Versova Sea Link has been escalated by Rs 1,477 crore. Earlier the estimated cost of this project was Rs 5,516 crore, which has now gone up to Rs 6,993 crore. The MSRDC is the nodal agency for this project. Reliance Infrastructure and Astaldi has been developing this coastal road stretch. The reason attributed for the cost escalation is rise in the input cost such as that of steel, cement, etc. The Bandra-Versova Sea Link is part of the state government's ambitious coastal road project to connect south Mumbai with the western suburbs. To recover the cost, MSRDC plans to collect toll from bridge users for around 28 years.

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