MSRDC picks Apco Infra to develop wayside amenities along Samruddhi
The MSRDC has taken Rs 275 crore excluding taxes as lease fees which will be paid in two installments.
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The Samruddhi Mahamarg that links Nagpur to Mumbai. (Express File Photo)The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) nominated a private company through bidding process to develop wayside amenities along Samruddhi Mahamarg corridor, a senior official said. The company, Apco Infratech Pvt Ptd, was given the job to develop and operate wayside amenities by leasing out land parcels of 4-5 hectares along the expressway for a period of 60 years. The official said that this company has also been given the liberty to sub-lease the land parcels to a third party.
Apco Infratech Pvt Ltd is also the same company which is carrying out the under construction Versova Bandra Sealink with Joint Venture Partner WeBuild, a project of MSRDC.
The MSRDC has taken Rs 275 crore excluding taxes as lease fees which will be paid in two installments. In the first, it is required to pay nearly Rs 175 crore as the letter of Intent (LOI) has been issued. At the time when the agreement is signed, which will take another month’s time, the remaining payment will be made, informed the official, adding that the company needs to spend Rs 8-10 crore each for the development of wayside amenities at 16 locations at Samruddhi Mahamarg, as mandated.
The Samruddhi Mahamarg was divided into 16 civil packages. Developing the wayside amenities will be done on the same lines, the official said.
Meanwhile, the MSRDC will open an additional 25 kms of expressway for traffic by February. The 701-km long Samruddhi Mahamarg, linking Nagpur to Mumbai, of which 600 kms expressway links Nagpur to Bharvir in Igatpuri, is currently open for traffic. This stretch was inaugurated in two phases. The first phase of 520 km, between Nagpur and Shirdi, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2022, and the second phase, between Shirdi and Bharvir, was inaugurated in May 2023 by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Although the expressway had been opened to traffic, MSRDC received a lot of criticism over the lack of wayside amenities at the time the highway was developed. The criticism came in the wake of a spate of accidents reported on the new expressway, wherein one of the reasons for these occurrences was highway hypnosis. Following this, MSRDC immediately made a temporary provision for refreshments, toilet facilities and mechanics at nearby fuel filling stations.
The work on the remaining 76-km stretch of the Samruddhi Mahamarg up to Amane in Thane district is slated to begin by July this year.
Country’s second longest expressway Samruddhi Mahamarg – officially named Hinduhruday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg – was built to reduce travel time between Mumbai and Nagpur to eight hours from 16. The project costs Rs 55,335 crore and passes through 10 districts of Maharashtra.
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