MMRDA announces ₹12,969.35-crore budget for Mumbai infra works

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), in a meeting chaired by state urban development minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday, approved a ₹12,969

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), in a meeting chaired by state urban development minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday, approved a ₹12,969.35-crore budget, allocating a significant part for the Metro network in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). Also, ₹2,900.35 crore has been allocated for the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL) that will connect Mumbai with the mainland through a sea link between Sewree and Nhava in Raigad.

This year, MMRDA, which is implementing the 337-km Metro network, has allocated ₹700.65 crore for Metro-2A (Dahisar-DN Nagar) and ₹999.45 crore for Metro-7 (Dahisar E-Andheri E). (HT Photo)

This year, the authority, which is implementing the 337-km Metro network, has allocated ₹700.65 crore for Metro-2A (Dahisar-DN Nagar) and ₹999.45 crore for Metro-7 (Dahisar E-Andheri E). Both the corridors are expected to be operational this year. A budgetary allocation of ₹4,571.25 crore has been made for the rest of the Metro projects. It has also allocated ₹250 crore for Metro-3 (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz), a 33.5-km underground corridor being executed by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation. Apart from this, ₹329.30 crore has been allocated for the proposed Metro Bhavan at Aarey and staff quarters.

The MMRDA has allocated ₹2,900.35 crore for the 22-km MTHL, expected to be operational by mid-2023. The authority has also allocated ₹100 crore for the proposed Swargiya Balasaheb Thackeray grand memorial and ₹260 crore for the Babasaheb Ambedkar memorial proposed at Indu Mills in Dadar.

The budget amount is less than 2020-21 at ₹15,819 crore and 2019-20 ( ₹16,909 crore). The MMRDA officials said while the budgets for the last two years were higher, the revised estimates were much lower. For instance, the revised estimate for 2019-20 was ₹10,088.31 crore and for 2020-21 was ₹9,851.92 crore. “The February-March is the expected expenditure, however, the figures are revised periodically as per the actual expenditure,” said BG Pawar, joint metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA.

The authority has also revived a plan to construct a pedestrian bridge from City Park in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) to the Maharashtra Nature Park (MNP), for which it has allocated ₹77 crore. It has also allocated ₹120.20 crore for the Mumbai Monorail and ₹200 crore for the refurbishment of both, the Western Express Highway and Eastern Express Highway. It has allocated ₹60 crore for the Chheda Nagar improvement project. Another ₹60 crore has been allocated for the Kalanagar junction improvement project. While chief minister Uddhav Thackeray inaugurated the south-bound arm of the flyover, 80% of works have been completed on the rest of the project.

The MMRDA has also allocated ₹405 crore for the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), a multi-phase plan to build new lines, expand the existing ones, replace aging trains and rebuild busy stations and ₹776.85 crore for the Mumbai Urban Infrastructure project (MUIP), that include road improvement projects.