The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) took another step towards its execution on Tuesday as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) signed an agreement with two contractors for Package 1 and 3.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Japan’s Minister for Transport, Keiichi Ishii were present at the signing. “Today, we have taken a major step towards attaining faster connectivity with Navi Mumbai and Konkan region,” Mr. Fadnavis said.
“MTHL is a much-awaited project and I am sure the MMRDA will certainly commit itself to construct it as early as possible,” he said.
The construction of the project will be divided into three packages. Package 1 will be built by the consortium of L&T and IHI, Japan. The 10.38-km stretch from Sewri will cost ₹7,637.30 crore. Package 3 will be the 3.6-km bridge towards Chirle, near the JNPT, and will be built by L&T for ₹1,013.79 crore.
An agreement for 7.8-km Package 2 will soon be signed with Daewoo and Tata Projects at an accepted contract cost of ₹5,612.61 crore.
80% of the project cost is financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). “The Indo-Japan relationship will go a long way as the project is financed by JICA. We are committed to joining hands with India for the development of infrastructure as we strongly believe that only efficient infrastructure puts countries on the forward path,” Mr. Ishii who attended the signing ceremony along with his 15-member team said.
The MTHL is a 21.8-km-long, six-lane bridge with maintenance lanes on either side. The project includes a 16.5-km bridge across the bay with 5.5-km viaducts on either side. The link will have interchanges at Sewri, and at Shivaji Nagar and Chirle in Navi Mumbai.
“The project will help develop Navi Mumbai and part of Raigad district providing faster connectivity with Mumbai and the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport. The project will also help environment with reduced congestion and transportation time,” U.P.S. Madan, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA, said.
