The state-of-the-art expressway will be implemented as a cash contract and not on a Public-Private Partnership model
Mumbai : Many international financial institutions are lining up expressing interest to fund the State Government’s mega project that will connect the state’s financial and auxiliary capital of Maharashtra by constructing a ‘Super Communications Expressway’. Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has approached the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) requesting permission to seek funds from foreign institutions for the Rs 30,000 crore-expressway.
According to officials of MSRDC, various international financial institutions are expressing interest in funding the project. “We have already sent our proposal to DEA to seek funds for the project. Funding for the project is not an issue for us as several banks wish to fund it, including the German Bank, KfW Development Bank, a Malaysian government institution, and Dubai International Bank are interested. This week representatives of KfW Development Bank are going to give us a presentation on their proposal,” said Radheshyam Mopalwar, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, MSRDC.
Earlier, Japanese International Cooperative Bank (JICA) representatives too had a preliminary discussion for funding with MSRDC officials in New Delhi.
The 800-km Expressway is going to be a Greenfield project and highway and cities will be connected through dedicated roads along the alignment. The state-of-the-art expressway will be implemented as a cash contract and not on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. This Expressway will reduce the travel time between the two cities to just 10 hours.
Earlier, it was proposed that in Phase-I, the existing four lanes would be widened and then in Phase-II, additional two lanes will be added. But now MSRDC will go for a one-shot construction with eight lanes. “We will have dedicated roads connecting cities, town and major highways,” said a senior MSRDC official.
Officials added that government has majority of the land around the probable alignment. “Mostly, we have land available there, but we will also be doing land-pooling and pass on the benefits with farmers. The other funds will be used for maintenance of the Expressway along with the toll,” said an official.
