Govt approves 6-lane greenfield highway from JNPA Port

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the construction of a six-lane access controlled greenfield high speed national highway starting from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) Port to Chowk (29.219 km) in Maharashtra.

The project will be developed on build, operate and transfer (BOT) mode at a total capital cost of Rs 4,500.62 crore, says an official release.

With increasing container volume in JNPA Port and the development of the Navi Mumbai International Airport, a need was identified for augmenting national highway connectivity in the region, the release added.

"Currently, it takes two-three hours for vehicles to move from JNPA Port to the arterial Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) section of NH-48 and Mumbai–Pune Expressway due to heavy congestion in urban areas like Palaspe Phata, D-Point, Kalamboli junction and Panvel with traffic ~1.8 lakh PCU/day. After the operationalisation of Navi Mumbai airport in 2025, the need for direct connectivity is expected to increase further.

"Accordingly, this project is designed to address these connectivity requirements and for improving the logistic efficiency of connecting JNPA Port and Navi Mumbai International Airport."

The project alignment starts at JNPA Port (NH 348) (Pagote village) and ends at Mumbai-Pune Highway (NH-48) while also linking Mumbai-Pune Expressway and Mumbai-Goa National highway (NH-66), the release added.

Two tunnels passing through Sahayadri are provided for ease of movement for commercial vehicles instead of the ghat section in hilly terrain ensuring high speed and ease in movement for large container trucks, the release added.