Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has fast tracked the 701-km-long, Nagpur-Mumbai super communication expressway (NMSCE) with the corporation already acquiring 86% of the land required for the construction of the project entailing an investment of ₹46,000 crore. So far, MSRDC has taken 7,460.39 ha in its possession, including the government-owned land and is in the process of disbursing ₹7,500 crore on land acquisition. The recent notification has given the government the power to avoid social impact assessment studies and rehabilitation of project-affected people, VC and MD, MSRDC, Radheshyam Mopalwar said that State Bank of India has approved ₹5,000 crore towards the cost of the project and is expected to make a further commitment of ₹3,000 crore. Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Dena Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Corporation Bank, Bank of India, Indian Bank, Andhra Bank and Union Bank of India have also given an in-principle approval for ₹13,300 crore. Together with institutions such as LIC and Indian Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL), MSRDC expects to tie up ₹28,000 crore towards the civil engineering construction costs of the mega project, he claimed.
