Mumbai-Nagpur expressway might get $1 bn from ADB

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) might loan $1 billion to the 793-km Mumbai-Nagpur communication super expressway project, which entails a total investment of ~31,500 crore. A high-level ADB team visiting Mumbai from Monday will hold talks with the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), the nodal agency for the pro- posed project. The expressway is expected to reduce the travelling time between the two cities to eight hours from 16 hours at present.

The construction cost for the eight-lane expressway is estimated at ~30 crore a km, which involves six lanes of super communication highway and two lanes of service roads, utility shifting, bypass and other structures.

An MSRDC official, who will be involved with the talks with ADB, told Business Standard: “ADB generally gives $350 million for each project. They have a kitty of $2 billion for India. However, they don't have tender-ready proposals to lend. Therefore, ADB is keen to make an exception for MSRDC at the instance of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. ADB is excited about the expressway and might agree to provide up to $1 billion loan in phases.” The official also said that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has also expressed its desire to provide loan for the proposed expressway. However, MSRDC will take a final call if JICA reduces the time generally taken for loan approval. MSRDC also plans to mobilise funds from banks and financial institutions and through bonds.

Fadnavis has set a target of December 2019 for the completion of the expressway. MSRDC hopes to kick-start construction by the end of September or mid-October this year.

The cost for constructing the 8-lane expressway is estimated at ~30 crore a km