MMRDA floats tenders over ₹10,000 crore a day before general elections announcement

The development authority has also floated a request proposal for the maintenance of a commercially viable Automated Rapid Transit (ART) System — a combination between a bus and a tram — Personalised Transit System in BKC Mumbai on DFBOT basis

MUMBAI: A day before the announcement of the general election date, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) issued multiple tenders for infrastructure work worth over ₹10,000 crore on Friday. The projects include an extension of the Eastern freeway up to Thane and a pod car transit system in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).

MMRDA plans Pod transport in Bandra-Kurla Complex.

Chief minister Eknath Shinde was pushing for a tender for an elevated road from Ghatkopar to Thane, his hometown.

The extension of the Eastern Freeway to Thane will be a six-lane road and will take three years to complete, costing the MMRDA ₹2,560 crore. MMRDA commissioner Sanjay Mukherjee said, “This is the extension of Eastern Freeway to Thane and will give seamless connectivity. We have a plan along the median and sides of the Eastern Express Highway. We will try to avoid private lands. MMRDA is also doing the redevelopment of the Ramabai Colony slums for this road.’’ Additionally, Mukherjee said that there will be a toll.

The development authority has also floated a request proposal for the maintenance of a commercially viable Automated Rapid Transit (ART) System — a combination between a bus and a tram — Personalised Transit System in BKC Mumbai on DFBOT (Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer) basis.

To improve the connectivity in BKC, a pod car system is in the plans. Sources in MMRDA said that the local police have failed to tackle the auto menace, which takes four persons in an auto and charges ₹30 to ₹50 per seat.

For Kalyan – Rundhe to Goveli, the authorities have planned a ring road worth ₹31 crore, connecting Kalyan-Murbad Road (Palms Water Resort) To Badlapur Road (Jagdish Dughdhalaya) to Pune Link Road Parallel to Waldhuni River crossing over Karjat and Kasara Railway Line Including Slip Road.

The MMRDA will also appoint a project management consultant to do the work of merging the Thane Ghodbunder Road Main Carriageway with Service Road and carry out concretization of the balance width from Kapurbawadi to Gaimukh at a cost of ₹395 crore.

For Masunda Lake in Thane, also called the city of lakes, a beautification tender has been issued with a cost ₹60 crore.

Other projects include the construction of a creek bridge from Kolshet, Thane to kalher in Bhiwandi, at ₹274 crore. The MMRDA wants to have a creek bridge from Kasarvadavali Thane to Kharbav in Bhiwandi, and the tender worth ₹1,453 crore has been floated.

CM Shinde also wants two coastal roads for Thane. The MMRDA has invited a tender for the design and construction work of Balkum to Gaimukh NH 3 connector Ghodbunder Bypass worth ₹2,597 crore. An elevated road from National Highway 4 to Katai Naka has been planned, and a tender worth ₹1,887 crore has been floated.