MSRDC re-floats bids for Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway

It seems the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), executing the Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway, is finding no takers for construction of the E-way in Nashik-Thane district.

Nashik and Thane both have seen strong protests from farmers and landowners against land acquisition in the area. Owing to this, the MSRDC on Wednesday floated bids for the third time for the same patch to have competitive bidders. However, the MSRDC claims that the companies that had bid for construction do not have the required experience and it is because of that reason they have to re-float the bids.

An MSRDC official, said, “We have re-floated bids for the three packages between Kasara and Bhiwandi but that has no relation to the opposition of landowners. We are going smoothly when it comes to acquiring land in these districts, It was because the companies that had bid did not meet the required conditions, and hence we had to re-float the civil bids for these packages.”

Further, officials involved in obtaining the required land for the project have said majority of the farmers giving up their land are opting for land acquisition rather than going for land pooling for the project. 

The Rs 46,000 crore Expressway will need 10,000 hectares of land and the distance of 700 km between Mumbai and Nagpur will be covered in just 8-10 hours.