Mumbai-Goa highway project to be completed by Dec: Gadkari

New Delhi: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said that the construction work of Mumbai-Goa National Highway will be completed by December 2023.

He added that the road will be commissioned for traffic in January 2024, and Mumbai-Goa commuters will be able to cover the distance in 4.5 hours.

The minister also announced three new projects worth ₹15,000 crores. These include the Rs. 1,200 crore Kalamboli Junction project, the Rs. 1,200 crore Pagode Junction Chowk to Greenfield Highway project and the Rs. 13,000 crore Morbe – Karanjade highway connecting Delhi via JNPA. The works of these projects will start soon.

The minister said the Mumbai-Goa highway has been divided into 10 packages. Out of these, two packages in Sindhudurg district are almost 99% complete. There are total 5 packages in Ratnagiri district and 92% and 98% work of two of these packages has been completed respectively. Rest of the work is in progress. The delayed works for two packages has been resumed by appointing a new contractor, informed the minister.

Out of the three packages in Raigad district, two packages have been completed up to 93% and 82% respectively. More than half of the work on package has been completed and the remaining work will be completed soon, he added.

Gadkari further said that land acquisition and environmental clearances for the Panvel-Indapur phase had delayed the work on the Mumbai-Goa National Highway. He said that now all these hurdles have been cleared and the environmental issue is being taken care of by removing the flyover in the Karnala sanctuary area.

The minister informed that the construction work in Goa of the Mumbai-Goa National Highway has been completed. The Mumbai-Goa National Highway is a highway connecting major tourist destinations in Konkan. This will boost tourism development. Also, as there is a road connecting major industrial areas, industrial development will also get a boost, he added.