MSRDC gets going on Nhava-Sewri link

MUMBAI: Snubbed by chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh over the sluggish pace of work on the Bandra-Worli sealink during the recent assembly session, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is now focusing on the Nhava-Sewri Trans Harbour Link project.

The Rs 4,000-crore project linking Nhava and Sewri by a 22-km-long sea-bridge is the biggest-ever development project in Maharashtra, according to public works minister Anil Deshmukh. The sea-bridge promises to be the second longest in the world, the first being the 36-km-long Hanzhou near Shanghai.

The Nhava-Sewri trans harbour link project is expected to be completed by ’11. About 1.2 lakh passenger cars are expected to use the facility then. The sate government has appointed the MSRDC to implement the project on a build, operate, and transfer (BOT) basis. Mr Deshmukh said the MSRDC had got all the clearances.

The MSRDC has approved pre-qualification of three companies, which have been asked to submit their final bids by October 25, ’06. The companies are IL & FS,with John Laing Construction of UK; L&T, with Gammon India & Siestema of Russia; and Indian Farmers Fertilizers Cooperative (IFFCO), with Skanska Cementation & Italian Thai Development and MAEDA of Japan. The contract would be awarded by December 15, ’06.