MSRDC - Redefining Maharashtra's Transport System Infrastructure Through Iconic Mega Projects - 1
Swarajya Swarajya
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 Published On Feb 5, 2024

Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) was established as a fully owned entity of the Government of Maharashtra in 1996. MSRDC soon won huge appreciation for the rapid progress it made in constructing and completing 55 flyovers in the Mumbai region in a record time.

In its 27 years of existence, MSRDC has not only successfully built the mammoth Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Samruddhi Mahamarg but has also delivered many other state-of-the-art engineering marvels. From India's first six-lane concrete, high speed and access-controlled expressway connecting two major cities of Mumbai and Pune to the country's first cable-stayed sea link bridge, the MSRDC has been managing mega projects since its inception.

MSRDC pioneered the development of access-controlled greenfield expressway projects in India. In the absence of private sector capacity then, MSRDC demonstrated that state entities can deliver transformational infrastructure projects in record time. Mumbai-Pune expressway stands as testimony to it. The construction of the 95 km Mumbai-Pune Expressway under the stewardship of the MSRDC began in 1998 and was operationalised in 2002.

Developed as India's first six-lane access control expressway, the project was completed in record time and half the cost that some private entities estimated when they bid.

After a bit of a lull, MSRDC was reinvigorated in 2015 and embarked upon the task of building what is currently India’s longest greenfield expressway.
In 2015, the Maharashtra government led by then Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis announced and approved the construction of a greenfield expressway connecting the state capital, Mumbai, with Nagpur (the state's second capital located in the easternmost part).
MSRDC was chosen as the nodal agency constructing the Samruddhi Mahamarg.

From conceptualising the alignment to land acquisition, securing funding, tendering packages and construction, the Samruddhi Expressway was completed in record time. It is widely regarded as the 'gold standard' in greenfield expressway development. The 701 km Expressway that traverses ten key districts of the state and indirectly connects 14 other districts was specifically aimed at opening up new vistas for the state.
The expressway connects economic hubs including the country's largest container port, JNPT in Mumbai and a new airport coming up in Navi Mumbai. It will provide access to several industrial and economic centres through 24 interchanges.

The project was not merely envisaged as connecting two places but was envisioned as an economic corridor. A key vision of the expressway project is to develop 18 townships located at strategic intersections at a distance of 30 to 40 km from each other.

Another key project that MSRDC is working on ‘missing link’ project on the Mumbai-Pune expressway which is set to be completed by mid-2024. The ‘missing link’ will be 0-30 minutes of commute time between the two cities
With the ‘missing link’, the MSRDC also aims to solve an annual worry during the monsoon — traffic gridlocks at Khandala due to falling boulders and morum from hillocks that flank the road.

The Rs 6,695-crore project is an engineering marvel. The 'missing link' will feature an 840-metres-long viaduct (60 metres height), then it enters a 1.75-km-long tunnel, then goes over the 640-metres-long cable-stayed bridge (around 100 ft height) and after that enters another 8.9 km-long tunnel.

The tunnelling work is complete, and some work on viaducts is pending.
MSRDC is now developing Versova-Bandra Sea Link, set to be another iconic project in the city of Mumbai 17 km in length. This new bridge will connect Versova, a neighbourhood in the suburb of Andheri to the Bandra–Worli sea link in Bandra, as part of the coastal road.

The 8-lane sea link will reduce congestion on the Western Express Highway and the Western Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway, expected to cut down commute time for Mumbaikars from over 90 minutes to 10 minutes.
The key elements of the bridge structure include one main viaduct, a 300-m long cable-stayed bridge, three balance cantilever bridges and four connectors.

MSRDC’s success has been fashioned by its inspiring leadership and highly skilled team of engineers and employees
It will continue to script iconic and mega infrastructure projects for Mumbai and Maharashtra and play a pivotal role in Maharashtra’s march to becoming India’s first trillion-dollar economy.

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