MSRDC secures funds for ₹55,000-cr super expressway

Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), the nodal agency for executing the Nagpur Mumbai Super Expressway also known as Samruddi corridor, has secured a ₹25,000 crore loan from a consortium of banks led by the SBI for the mega project entailing an investment of ₹55,000 crore. MSRDC already has ₹5,811 crore in its kitty of which ₹4,700 crore has been contributed by Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), and City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) and has chipped in Rs1,111 crore, said MSRDC sources, adding that it will need ₹28,000 crore in the next financial year. The state government has already spent ₹10,000 crore on land acquisition. The corridor will have 31 toll plazas, and toll will be collected for 40 years whereby the toll from Nagpur to Mumbai is expected to be Rs1,200 for cars and more for heavy vehicles. The 704-km expressway will reduce the travelling time between Nagpur and Mumbai from the current 15 hours to less than eight hours. Motorists will not have to stop at a single place as MSRDC will build 300 vehicular underpasses, 400 underpasses and 50 flyovers.