Uddhav Thackeray to review Mumbai-Nagpur expressway work

The expressway connecting the two capitals of Maharashtra will reduce the travel time between the cities to around 8 hours, say officials.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will visit the cities of Amravati and Aurangabad today to review the ongoing work for Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi corridor, a new expressway expected to cut down the travel time between the two cities to eight hours from the nearly 18 hours it currently takes.

The Mumbai-Nagpur expressway is likely to be fully operational by May 2022. (Courtesy Livemint)

The 701 km ambitious expressway is expected to be fully operational by May 1, 2022, connecting the State’s capital with its second capital at a total project cost of around Rs 55,000 crore.

Back in 2017, the land acquisition for the project was opposed by farmers across 10 districts. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, which is executing the project, has said that the entire land acquisition process has now been completed smoothly.

The expressway will connect 10 districts, 26 talukas and 392 villages between Mumbai and Nagpur. With 24 interchanges, it will also connect many tourism locations like Lonar lake, Ajantha-Ellora caves, Pench National Park, Shegaon, Sevagram, Shirdi, Bibi Ka Maqbara and Daulatabad.

The project, which has been delayed due to coronavirus induced lockdown, also includes development of 20 townships and nodes along the route of the expressway.