Nagpur: A consortium of banks led by State Bank of India (SBI) has promised to sanction Rs 25,000 crore loan for Nagpur Mumbai Super Expressway, also known as Samruddhi Corridor, in a month. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had met top bankers in Mumbai on Monday in this regard. The latest estimates say the cost of the project is Rs 55,000 crore.
Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), the executing agency, already has Rs 5,811 crore in its kitty. Of this, Rs 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). MSRDC has chipped in with Rs1,111 crore.
MSRDC officials said banks have agreed in principle to lend Rs 30,000 crore. “We need only Rs 28,000 crore in the next financial year. We will arrange for the rest of the money when the need arises. The state government has already spent Rs 10,000 crore on land acquisition, which is its share,” said an official.
MSRDC will recover the money from users through toll. The corridor will have 31 toll plazas, and toll will be collected for 40 years. The toll from Nagpur to Mumbai is expected to be Rs1,200 for cars and more for heavy vehicles. The agency expects traffic of between 25,000 to 30,000 cars per day in the initial years.
Banks have agreed to lend for the project as MSRDC has acquired 86.46% land. The remaining 13.54% land will be compulsorily acquired under Maharashtra Highways Act, 1955. The process for the same has already started. The 704km expressway will reduce the travelling time between Nagpur and Mumbai from present 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 for people and cattle, and 50 flyovers. The corridor will be 90 metre wide and will have six lanes. Space has been left for gas pipelines and even a high speed railway line. MSRDC will develop 24 townships along the expressway. Each of them will have top class civic amenities to house industries, offices and residences.
