The travel time between Nagpur and Mumbai came down to eight hours from the earlier 18 hours on Thursday, as Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis threw open the third and final 76 km-stretch of the 701 km Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Expressway to traffic. As he inaugurated the final 76 km stretch of Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg — from Igatpuri in Nashik district to Amane in Thane district, Fadnavis described as an “engineering marvel” and said that this “economic corridor” would play a vital role in the State’s development.
Speaking at the inaugural function which was among others attended by Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, Fadnavis said, “It is a matter of joy that the dream we took up this ambitious project in 2014 has been fulfilled today. Samruddhi Mahamarg is not just a road. It is the corridor of Maharashtra’s economy. We have created an engineering marvel here”. The Chief Minister announced that a smart integrated traffic management system (ITMS) would soon be installed on the Samruddhi Expressway, which is an access control road between Mumbai and Nagpur. “We have given the ‘right of way’ to the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) for laying the pipeline,” Fadnavis said.
After the inauguration, the Chief Minister also inspected the longest Igatpuri tunnel of the expressway and via duct in the stretch. While conducting the inspection of the expressway between Igatpuri and Amane, Shinde drove a high-end car with Chief Minister Fadnavis sitting beside him on the front seat and Pawar occupying the rear seat.
On the way back, Fadnavis and Shinde swapped seats with the Chief Minister getting behind the wheel, while Pawar remained in the same seat. The inspection lasted for 45 minutes.
The Chief Minister also inaugurated the newly-constructed third creek bridge near Vashi Sion-Panvel Highway via video conferencing on the occasion. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde termed it a “game changer” project for the State. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who holds the Finance portfolio, said that the Samruddhi Expressway project witnessed a cost escalation to `61,000 crore from `55,000 crore. It may be recalled that the Phase-I of the project from Nagpur to Shirdi was thrown open to traffic by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 11, 2022, in presence of then chief minister Eknath Shinde, and his then deputy Devendra Fadnavis. The first phase between Nagpur and Shirdi involved a distance of 520 km.
Later on May 26, 2023, Shinde — along with Fadnavis, CM, inaugurated the Phase-II of the expressway from Shirdi to Igatpuri in Nashik district, involving a distance of around 80 km. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Ltd (MSRDC) has been the nodal agency for the implementation of the project. “Previously, the journey from Nagpur to Mumbai via the old route would take 17 to 18 hours. With this new greenfield expressway, the same distance (between Nagpur and Amane in Thane district) can be covered in eight hours,” the MSRDC said in a release.
The maximum speed limit on the expressway is 100 km per hour in ghat sections and 120 km per hour on flat terrain.
The Samruddhi Mahamarg — as the Nagpur-Mumbai Expressway is also known as — will provide connectivity to the Delhi Mumbai Expressway, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Bengaluru-Chennai Economic Corridor, Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, Chennai-Vizag Economic Corridor and Golden Quadrilateral. It will also provide access to tourist locations like Ajanta Ellora Caves, Shirdi, Verul and Lonar.
In all, there are 33 major bridges, 274 minor bridges, 65 flyovers and six tunnels along the Nagpur-Mumbai Expressway
The Nagpur-Mumbai Expressway features three key interchanges at Igatpuri, Kutghar in Shahapur and Amane near Thane, as well as India’s longest road tunnel, stretching 7.8 km through the Kasara Ghat region.