PM Modi to open Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, India’s longest bridge on Friday

PM Modi’s visit to Maharashtra on Friday will start from Nashik where he will inaugurate 27th National Youth Festival

MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 21.8-km Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), India’s longest sea bridge, during his day-long Maharashtra visit on January 12, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Thursday.

An aerial view of Sewri Nhava Sheva Atal Setu (Mumbai Trans Harbour Link Road) which will be inaugurated by PM Modi on January 12 (Hindustan Times/Anshuman Poyrekar)

The statement said PM Modi will inaugurate, dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone for projects worth ₹30,500 crore during the visit. This includes the six-lane bridge, formally named Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sewari - Nhava Sheva Atal Setu, that was built at a cost of ₹17,480 crore.

The bridge - 16.5 km length over sea and about 5.5 km on land -- will provide faster connectivity to Mumbai International Airport and and Navi Mumbai International Airport and also reduce the travel time from Mumbai to Pune, Goa and South India. Motorists will have to pay ₹250 for a one-way trip.

PM Modi’s visit to Maharashtra on Friday will start from Nashik where he will inaugurate 27th National Youth Festival.

State government officials said the public meeting is expected to be attended by about one lakh people mostly women. “It is the ambitious programme of chief minister Eknath Shinde who had announced it immediately after the women reservation bill was passed in the parliament two months ago,” said an official at Shinde’s office.

The PMO statement said PM Modi will lay the foundation stone of an underground road tunnel connecting the eastern freeway’s orange gate to Marine drive. The 9.2km tunnel will be built at a cost of more than ₹8,700 crore. He will dedicate phase 1 of the Surya regional bulk drinking water project, which cost ₹1,975 crore. Apart from it, he will dedicate railway projects worth ₹2,000 crore.

The PM will also launch Namo Mahila Shashaktikaran Abhiyaan that seeks to empower women in the state of Maharashtra by providing skill development training and exposure to entrepreneurship development. It will also attempt to converge women development programmes of the state and central governments and will be implemented through Umed, a cell of the women and child welfare department.

Among other projects that are expected to be inaugurated on Friday are twin tunnel between Borivali and Thane, the fourth railway corridor between Kharkopar and Uran, the inauguration of Digha Gaon railway station, Mothagaon-Mankoli bridge, and formal launch of first line of Metro during his visit.