Work for Sewri-Nhava Sheva Sea Link to start in six months

Published: Thursday, Jan 14, 2010, 18:03 IST By Shubhangi Khapre | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

Chief minister Ashok Chavan, on Thursday, urged the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to streamline problems and expedite the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project. The project, which will connect Sewri to Nhava Sheva with a 22 km bridge, is expected to begin within six months. The cost, however, due to inordinate delay in executing the project has shot from Rs6,000 crore to Rs7,700 crore. Bids for the project, which ran into trouble following dispute between the Ambani brothers (Mukesh and Anil) leading to a court battle, will be invited soon. The Centre is positively considering financing the project by covering the 20% viability gap, Jaydutt Kshirsagar, minister of public works department (special projects), said. The MSRDC made a presentation of the project to the chief minister at Mantralaya, following which Kshirsagar said: We are likely to consider according floor space index (FSI) up to four for commercial development on the four km land which would be acquired for the stated project. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is going to hold discussions with the chief minister today to fine-tune the project. The state government has categorically stated that they will not finance the project. However, based on the bids certain guidelines could be reconsidered to make it feasible. The government was expecting the project to complete in 2011 but it is unlikely to meet the deadline. A senior official from the chief ministers office said, What works to our advantage is that we have already got the sanction for the project from the Centre. Even the environment clearance is through. But the process of inviting fresh bids and ensuring there is no dispute remains the biggest challenge, he added.

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