5 state agencies give Rs 5,000 crore loan for Mumbai-Nagpur expressway

MUMBAI: State-run corporations and boards have come to the rescue of the cash-starved Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation. It’s the first time in recent history that MSRDC has knocked at the doors of state-run corporations and boards for massive financial assistance.

Five state-run undertakings–Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco), Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada), Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA)—together will provide a loan of Rs 5,000 crore for CM Devendra Fadnavis’s dream project, the 700-km Nagpur-Mumbai Samrudhi Mahamarg.

A senior bureaucrat on Thursday confirmed to TOI that Mhada, Cidco, SRA, MMRDA and MIDC have given a loan of Rs 1000 crore each. “We will pay interest at the rate of 8 to 9.5% to these boards and corporations as well as financial institutions,’’ he said.

The bureaucrat said while the actual work for the construction of the 700 km road, which will pass through 10 districts, will start from October 1, it is expected that the entire project will be completed in 30 months. “We have drafted an ambitious plan to complete the project on schedule, we expect that the highway will be thrown open to the people before April 30, 2021,’’ he said.

The bureaucrat claimed that against the requirement of 10,000 hectares, the MSRDC has already in possession of 9,000 hectares of land, while the remaining will be procured shortly. In addition, now as per the directives of the central government, it has been proposed to construct a precast wall along the entire road—it will cost another Rs 1,000 crore .

“We have already paid Rs 7,500 crore for land acquisition. Initially, there was opposition to land acquisition, but now it appears to be a smooth affair. Once the highway is completed, it will be a six-hour drive from Nagpur to Mumbai,’’ he said.