Mumbai - Surat highway to get 6- laned

If things go as planned by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), then in two-and-a-half years, you can look forward to a smooth drive all the way from Mumbai to Surat in Gujarat. As part of the NHAI’s country-wide highway widening programme, the 239-km stretch between Dahisar and Surat on the National Highway No. 8 (Mumbai to Delhi), is being converted from the present four-lane system into a wider six-lane road. Though one will have to shell out a minimum toll of Rs 40 per car for every 60 km from now on, the stretch will have broad service roads, 25 flyovers, 54 small and major bridges, and 28 pedestrian and vehicular underpasses. The work on this project, which began on February 20, is estimated to cost Rs 2,835 crore. The NHAI has awarded the contract to IRB Surat Dahisar Tollways Pvt. Ltd—a consortium of IRB, Mumbai and Deutsche Bank. Around one lakh vehicles use this road every day. The project will be implemented with the help of private entrepreneurs on design, build, finance and operate basis. “We entered into an agreement with the NHAI in April 2008 and achieved financial closure last month after a delay of couple of months due to the financial crisis. With all formalities done now, we expect to finish the work within 28 months,’’ said Veerendra Mhaiskar of IRB. The highway was made four-lane five years ago and is part of the Golden Quadrilateral. Ahead of Gujarat, it connects Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi. The total length of the highway is 1,400 km. Of the total revenue generated through the toll, the NHAI will get 38%, while the remaining will be shared by the consortium partners. The stretch is being widened to accommodate the high volume of freight traffic. This project is part of Government of India’s endeavour to convert four-lane highways into six-lane under the fifth phase of National Highway Development Programme. Of the total 239 km, 121 km of road falls in Maharashtra. Mhaiskar said, IRB is developing 7% of the Golden Quadrilateral, the largest holding by any company under the programme. With this, the IRB gets a total of 415 km of highway from Pune to Bharuch via Mumbai, Vapi and Surat, through its projects: Mumbai-Pune BOT (NH4 of 111 km), Dahisar-Surat BOT (NH8 of 239 km) and Surat-Baruch BOT(NH8 of 65 km).