In a bid to expand Mumbai’s underground transport infrastructure, alongside the existing Coastal Road and Metro Line 3, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is planning an integrated tunnel road. This proposed road will connect the end of the Coastal Road at Worli with the upcoming Mumbai–Ahmedabad bullet train terminal at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) and further to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport Terminal 2 (T2). The move aims to enable seamless travel for passengers arriving by bullet train or flights, offering a direct underground link to South Mumbai’s Marine Drive via the Coastal Road without entering the city’s congested arterial routes. In the e-tender, the MMRDA has invited bids to appoint a consultant for a techno-economic feasibility study and detailed project report (DPR) for the proposed Worli–BKC–airport tunnel system. The consultancy work, estimated at Rs 17 crore, is to be completed within seven months, including the monsoon period. The pre-bid meeting will be held on October 17, and the last date for bid submission is November 6. Officials said the corridor will become a critical underground connector between Mumbai’s south and central business district zones, easing pressure on surface-level traffic once the bullet train project is operational. The MMRDA's project forms part of a larger vision to create a web of underground corridors across Mumbai, linking the Coastal Road, the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), and future east-west connectors. The authority is already executing two major tunnels: Thane–Borivali (11.85 km, Rs 18,838 crore) and Orange Gate–Marine Drive (9.23 km, Rs 9,158 crore). The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)'s Goregaon–Mulund Link Road tunnel (12.2 km) is under construction. BMC receives two bids from major tunneling design firms While the MMRDA pushes ahead with the Coastal Road–BKC link, the BMC is also in the final stages of its own tunnel multimodal connectivity project, aimed at building a master plan for a citywide tunnelling network. According to civic sources, the tender process for the appointment of consultants to prepare the DPR and master plan has reached its final stage. Two bids have been received from Amberg Engineering and Meinhardt India, both global players in tunnelling design. Once the master plan is accepted by the civic body, the selected consultant will prepare tenders for appointing a contracting agency and later act as the project management consultant to oversee the execution and expansion of the tunnel network across the city. With both the MMRDA and the BMC pushing separate but complementary tunnelling initiatives, Mumbai is set to see one of the most ambitious sub-surface infrastructure expansions in the country, aimed at decongesting roads and seamlessly linking the city’s sea, rail, and air networks.
