Over 11 lakh vehicles use Samruddhi Mahamarg in a month since opening of its last stretch; 32% rise compared to last 5 months

Prior to the opening of the last stretch, from January to May, an average of 8.5 lakh vehicles plied on the expressway every month, said MSRDC officials.

According to MSRDC data, from June 6 to July 6, as many as 11.23 lakh vehicles passed on the expressway. Of these, 1.97 lakh vehicles crossed at the Amane near Thane district toll plaza, collecting Rs 19.2 crore in toll fees. As many as 27,612 vehicles crossed at the toll plaza near Shahapur at Khutghar in the same span and toll collection stood at Rs 98 lakh.

The access-controlled Samruddhi Mahamarg, which runs for 701 km from the state capital Mumbai to the sub-capital Nagpur, has been constructed at a cost of around Rs 61,000 crore. It brought down the road travel time between the two capital cities to around eight hours.

The final stretch of the highway—76 km from Igatpuri to Amane—was thrown open to the public on June 5.

This completes the route from Nagpur to Mumbai through the 625-km stretch up to Igatpuri, and the state’s two biggest cities are now directly connected.

So far, 2.24 crore vehicles have used the expressway since its initial segment was inaugurated on December 11, 2022.

Currently, around 37,000 vehicles travel on the Samruddhi Mahamarg daily.

With the entire route now open, the traffic volume of passenger and commercial vehicles on the expressway are likely to rise. MSRDC officials have indicated that traffic flow is being observed frequently, and amenities along the route are being upgraded to cater to the increased demand.