Mumbai : The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) has finalised the alignment of the Rs 10,000-crore CST-Panvel fast corridor, which will now run from Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai. The project will no longer be carried out on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis and will be taken up on the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) model.
CIDCO, in their proposal to the Urban Development Ministry, had suggested the EPC model as the mode of funding the project. A senior railways official said, “The project will not be on a PPP basis as it is dependent on FSI, because of which the Oval Maidan-Virar elevated corridor was shelved. The funding of the project will be made possible through all the stake holders, while the stake that each organisation will hold is yet to be decided.”
The completed project will also strengthen connectivity to the proposed Navi Mumbai airport. The officials are also thinking of connecting the fast corridor to Metro Line-2 (Dahisar-Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd). An official from Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) said, “If the Metro Line-2 is connected with the CST-Panvel fast corridor, it will further enhance the connectivity of the international airport to the domestic airport.”
MRVC managing director Prabhat Sahai said, “The funding of the CST-Panvel fast corridor is not possible through the conventional method in which the MUTP-3 projects are being funded. There has to be a separate model for this project.”
Iram Siddique
