Worli-Haji Ali sea link will be ready in 4 years

Come June 2014, motorists will be able to use the Bandra-Worli sea link to travel further to Haji Ali.

The Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) led consortium, which signed an agreement with the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) for the Worli-Haji Ali sea link (WHAL) on Monday, announced that they would complete the 5.5km long sea link by June 2014.

Just before signing the agreement, Lalit Jalan, chief executive officer (CEO) and director, RInfra, said that the consortium led by his company and Hyundai will finish construction within 42 months once the financial closure is achieved in six months from now.

“Beginning Monday, we will be finalising the financial closure, other technical specifications and appointments of all the sub-contractors. We expect to start actual work by December this year and by June 2014, Mumbai will see the second link of the Bandra-Worli sea link (BWSL) operational,” said Jalan.

The WHAL will be the MSRDC’s first project to be undertaken on a design-build-operate-transfer (DBOT) basis. Also, the RInfra led consortium has assured zero financial risks for MSRDC.

“Since this is a DBOT project, the government will not bear any financial risk and MSRDC’s financial interests will be completely shielded,” said Jalan. The 5.5km long sea link will have a 3.25km long main deck and a 2.25km long clover leaf interchange - one of the first to be constructed in deep sea in India.

According to a RInfra officials, the sea link will be built at an average distance of approximately 1.5km from the sea shore.

Jalan added that like the first phase, which saw mammoth cost escalation from Rs440 crore to Rs1,634 crore, this phase will not see any cost escalation.

The consortium will run both sea links for a period of 40 years, including collecting toll, which will increase every three years as per government specifications.

MSRDC vice chairman & MD Sonia Sethi said the viability gap funding of Rs1,392 crore will be paid by the corporation in installments during the construction period.

However, it is yet not clear whether the Centre will fund the viability gap — either partially or fully. Interestingly, MSRDC chairman & public works (public undertakings) minister Jaidatt Kshirsagar was not present for the event on Monday.