M'rashtra clears Rs.7,502 cr sea-link project

The infrastructure committee spearheaded by the state government recently gave its approval for the Rs.7,502 crore Versova-Bandra sea link project. The 17.7 km long project comprises 9.5 km of the sea link while 8.2 km will be the connectors. The eight lane sea link part will be longer than the 9.25 km Dhola-Sadiya bridge, which was recently inaugurated by the Prime Minister. The state run Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation has already selected five qualified bidders comprising Hyundai-ITD Cementation JV, L&T-Daewoo JV, CHEC-Soma JV, HCC-SKEC JV and Reliance-CGCD JV. MSRDC vice chairman and managing director Radheshyam Mopalwar said that the qualified bidders have been asked to submit their financial bids in next two months. The construction of the project will begin on October 1 and it is expected to be completed in three years i.e., by the end of 2020.The project will be funded by raising loans from domestic lenders as the proposed sea link is a part of the much ambitious coastal road project that will link Nariman Point and the northern suburbs and it will begin from the Bandra-end of the 5.6 km Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL) as it was earlier part of the Western Freeway project that envisaged construction of sea links and a tunnel from Priyadarshini Park, Napeansea Road to Marine Drive, however, the project was dropped after the government decided to develop the coastal road.