The Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi expressway, started by the previous BJP-led government, will be named after Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray, party leader and Maharashtra Minister Eknath Shinde said on Wednesday.
According to the reports, Shinde said that the Rs 46,000-crore project will be named after the late Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray and the renaming proposal has the approval of all ministers in the cabinet, which included those from the Congress and the NCP.
Reportedly, the previous government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, had planned to name the expressway after late Atal Bihari Vajpayee and had even submitted the proposal for the same to then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis
The total cost of the project is estimated to be around Rs 55,335 crore and the road construction will be completed within the next three years, Minister Eknath Shinde said after the cabinet meeting.
The Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway, also known as Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, is an under-construction 701 km long, eight-lane corridor connecting the two key cities of Maharashtra. Nagpur, located in eastern Maharashtra, is the second capital of the state and biggest city of the Vidarbha region.
The project was conceived by former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s government in which the Sena was an ally. The expressway once completed will run through 10 districts, 26 tehsils and 390 villages. It is expected to cut travel time between the two cities to just 8 hours from 15-16 hours now.
The project is expected to cost Rs 46,000 crore and requires the acquisition of 8,603 hectares of land. The Maharashtra government will be financing Rs 27,335 crore for the project and remaining funds will be coming from the Union government.
Prasanta Patnaik