The bid for construction of an Expressway Connector to Samruddhi Mahamarg from Jalna to Nanded (Jalna-Nanded expressway) has received a good response, with 28 players evincing interest in the project.
Some of the major players from the construction industry including L&T, G R Infraprojects, Afcons Infra, IRB infrastructure and IRCON International have shown interest in the project by applying for the Request for Qualifications (RFQ).
Earlier in April 2023, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) had invited RFQ to select eligible contractors for the construction of the 179.85 km Jalna-Nanded expressway.
The project has an estimated cost of Rs 10,733.2 crore with a completion period of 30 months and defect liability period of 10 years.
Jalna-Nanded Expressway
Maharashtra government has proposed to develop additional connectors or access controlled expressways to connect major districts in the state to Samruddhi Mahamarg.
Jalna-Nanded Greenfield Expressway is one such connector which will provide a direct and the fastest connectivity for Nanded, Hingoli, Parbhani and Jalna districts to the state capital Mumbai and further to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) as well.
The direct connectivity is expected to help reduce time taken to transport goods to international destinations and boost the economy of the rural parts of Nanded, Hingoli, Parbhani and Jalna districts.
The proposed expressway starts at Jalna on the Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg and traverses southwest through Jalna, Parbhani and Nanded district and ends on the Nanded-Deglur-Telangana NH 161.
The six-lane expressway will have a design speed of 120 kmph with a 100-metre right-of-way.
A unique feature of the expressway will be the provision of a 20-metre space for the construction of a high-speed rail corridor.
Samruddhi Corridor
Officially named ‘Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg’, the 701-km-long expressway connects Mumbai and Nagpur.
The six-lane highway is a green field alignment passing through 392 villages in 26 talukas of 10 districts, namely, Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Washim, Buldhana, Jalna, Aurangabad, Nashik, Ahmednagar and Thane.
The first phase of the Samruddhi Mahamarg, connecting Nagpur to the temple town of Shirdi in Ahmednagar district covering a distance of 520 km, has been in operation since December 2022, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated it.
The second phase of Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Mahamarg, an 80 km stretch between Shirdi and Bharvir village in Igatpuri taluka in Nashik district, was inaugurated on 27 May 2023 by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
With this, a total of 600 km out of the 701 km of the Samruddhi Expressway is now open to the public. The remaining 100-km stretch under Phase-III, between Igatpuri and Vadpe in Thane, will be completed in the next 7-8 months.
