MUMBAI: At a time when airlines are showing reluctance to shift operations to the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), the satellite city’s City Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) has floated a tender for a 25-km six-lane elevated road from Kopri in Thane to Patni in Navi Mumbai. This will offer quicker connectivity between Thane and Navi Mumbai although NMIA itself is not the destination and is some distance away.
CIDCO managing director Ashwin Mudgal said an empowered committee of the department of economic affairs had cleared the tender document based on a Niti Aayog model concession agreement in October. “The road will run parallel to Navi Mumbai’s Palm Beach Road,” he said. “The Thane-Belapur road, which people currently use to reach NMIA from Thane, is overbusy and sees many traffic snarls.”
Mudgal added that the elevated corridor would take three to four years to construct once approved. Among the permissions that will be sought are some from the Maharashtra Coastal Management Authority since the road will also claim some mangroves, said officials.
NMAI was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi in October last year, and flight operations commenced on December 25, 2025. A lot hinges on proper connectivity to the airport since the Mumbai Airport’s (CSMIA) Terminal 1 is soon to be demolished for a makeover, and will be out of bounds till 2030 at least. Some international flights have shifted to NMIA, but many airlines, including foreign ones, are unwilling due to NMIA’s poor connectivity. Most airlines want a metro connecting CSMIA to NMIA but the project is not even at the tender stage.
Retired IAS officer K P Bakshi, who is a resident of Thane, said that eventually, most international air traffic would move to NMIA, which, according to him, was “well located”. “Thane will have a coastal road too, which will connect the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway,” he said. “Once there is a road to the airport, the connectivity of Thane will get an impetus.”
{{/usCountry}}Retired IAS officer K P Bakshi, who is a resident of Thane, said that eventually, most international air traffic would move to NMIA, which, according to him, was “well located”. “Thane will have a coastal road too, which will connect the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway,” he said. “Once there is a road to the airport, the connectivity of Thane will get an impetus.”
{{/usCountry}}Apart from the Kopri-Patni road, an elevated road is also to be constructed from Airoli to Palm Beach Road. The BMC is constructing an underground road from Goregaon to Mulund and MMRDA is constructing an underground tunnel from Borivali to Thane, and this elevated road can provide connectivity to the western suburb residents.
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