Nag-Mum superexpressway project report work from Feb.

The detailed project report (DPR) of the ambitious Nagpur-Mumbai communication superexpressway will start from early February. Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has floated tenders for engaging international consultants for preparing the DPR. The last date of submission of the bids is January 20.

The length of the superexpressway is about 744 km. It has been divided into five packages for speedy preparation of DPR. The work on the expressway is also expected to begin simultaneously on all packages so that project meets chief minister Devendra Fadnavis' completion deadline of 2019. The expected investment on this is over Rs 30,000 crore. It will have wi-fi connectivity along entire stretch of the road. It is expected to reduce travel time between Nagpur and Mumbai to ten hours.

The broad alignment of the project has been decided by MSRDC. It will start from Jamtha on Nagpur-Butibori road and go up to Padgha near Mumbai. The final alignment of the expressway will be known after the five DPRs are available.

MSRDC managing director RL Mopulwar said that the first package was for the Jamtha-Butibori MIDC-Wardha-Pulgaon stretch having length of approximately 128 km. The entire stretch was in Nagpur and Wardha districts. 'The second package is for the stretch of Pulgaon-Karaja Lad-Sindkhedraja upto Jalna district border. This stretch covers in Amravati, Washim and Buldhana districts of Amravati revenue division. Its length is about 256 km.

'The third package is for the stretch in Marathwada. It starts from Jalna-Buldhana district border and goes upto Vaijapur through Jalna and Aurangabad districts. It is about 165 km long. The fourth package covers the stretch from Vaijapur to Ghoti (near Igatpuri in Nashik district) and passes through Ahmednagar and Nashik districts. The fifth package is for the 80 km stretch from Ghoti to Padgha. This lies entirely in Thane district,' the MD said.

The government has decided to lay optical fibre all along the stretch of the expressway so that wi-fi connectivity is available. It plans to develop industrial parks along it. The expressway is passing through a large number of backward districts and the government hopes to ensure their industrial development using the expressway as an infrastructural launchpad.

The Congress-NCP government had begun construction on Nagpur-Mumbai expressway. However, this project failed to take off and remains a two-lane road for most of its length. The superexpressway will use large portion of the road to reduce cost and hassles involved in land acquisition. MSRDC officials say there may be some diversions if suggested by the consultants.

TOI