MMRDA earmarks ₹4,000 crore of its 48,073-crore budget for ‘Third Mumbai’

₹4,000 crore has been allocated for Karnala-Sai-Chirner (KSC) Town, the name officially given to ‘Third Mumbai’ last year

MUMBAI: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) on Monday presented its highest-ever budget, ₹48,072.57 crore, for financial year 2026-27, with an increased focus on infrastructure and transport projects. ₹4,000 crore has been allocated for Karnala-Sai-Chirner (KSC) Town, the name officially given to ‘Third Mumbai’ last year—this allocation marks the operationalisation of MMR’s next urban frontier designed to decongest Mumbai, attract global capital, and create structured employment.

MMRDA earmarks ₹4,000 crore of its 48,073-crore budget for ‘Third Mumbai’.

Of the total proposed expenditure, 87.42% or ₹42,026.14 crore has been earmarked for infra projects such as the expansion of Metro rail works, underground road tunnels and large-scale regional connectivity projects across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). One of the key projects that has been mentioned for the first time in the budget, for which ₹1,189 crore has been allotted, is the Mumbai Integrated Tunnel project which connects the Bandra-Worli Sea Link to Bandra-Kurla Complex’s Bullet Train Station to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport Terminal 2.

Overall, the four underground corridors, including the Mumbai Integrated Tunnel Project, have received ₹5,543.51 crore. The others are Orange Gate to Marine Drive Coastal Road ( ₹1,250 crore), Gaimukh to Fountain Hotel Underground Tunnel ( ₹75 crore) and Thane to Borivali Tunnel ( ₹3,029.51 crore).

The multi-ring roads have been allocated ₹12,816.53 crore. These are Atal Setu to Mumbai-Pune Expressway Link ( ₹603 crore), Anand Nagar to Saket Elevated Road ( ₹880.12 crore), Thane Coastal Road from Balkum to Gaimukh ( ₹1,025.77 crore), Fountain Hotel to Bhayander Elevated Road ( ₹75 crore), Kalyan Ring Road ( ₹600 crore), Worli-Sewri Elevated Corridor ( ₹936.07 crore), Extended Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Projects ( ₹2,362.20 crore), Mumbai-Vadhavan Expressway Corridor, also known as Uttan-Virar Sea Link ( ₹2,000 crore), Mumbai to Samruddhi Expressway-Saket to Aamne Link Road ( ₹500 crore) and Eastern Freeway Chheda Nagar, Ghatkopar, to Thane Extension ( ₹1,106.75 crore) among others.

The budget banks heavily on land monetisation, through which MMRDA plans to raise ₹11,177.95 crore. In FY 2025-26, as per the revised estimates, it had raised ₹4,582.62 crore. More than the land bank, the development authority is also considering raising its highest-ever debt of ₹23,711.16 crore as compared to ₹15,548.17 crore raised during 2025-26.

“This surplus budget is the outcome of fiscal discipline, calibrated capital mobilisation and sustained infrastructure delivery,” said Sanjay Mukherjee, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA. “We are simultaneously expanding connectivity, decentralising growth through Mumbai 3.0 and strengthening regional sustainability. This budget marks a transition from financial stress to financial stability while maintaining development momentum at scale.”

To continue the momentum of expanding the Mumbai metro network, ₹13,838.88 crore is to be spent on public mobility. The corridors include Lines 2A, 2B, 4, 4A, 5, 5A, 6, 7, 7A, 9, 10, 12, 13 and 14.