Maharashtra clears ₹2,649-cr for Mumbai-Pune e-way link

Maharashtra government’s Urban Development department has sanctioned ₹2,649 crore to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for connecting the ongoing Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) road with the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The new project is expected to reduce the travel time between Mumbai and Pune by at least one-and-a-half hours, enabling motorists to travel directly to Pune from Mumbai without entering Thane or Navi Mumbai. The extension from Chirle to Mumbai-Pune Expressway will also address the bottleneck at Navi Mumbai caused by the narrow lane connectivity, leading to smooth traffic movement between Mumbai and Pune. MTHL is a 21.8-kilometre-long sea-link project that will connect South Mumbai to Navi Mumbai.

The project is being executed at ₹18,000 crore and so far, over 76 per cent of the work on the MTHL has been completed. MMRDA is planning to wind up the work before December 2023 and open the link to public. As part of the new extension project, MMRDA will improve the road network to speed up vehicular traffic to and from Pune and Goa.