The Maharashtra government is in talks with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), for getting additional funds for the State’s ambitious 700-km long Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway.
“We have initiated talks with AIIB on the project,” Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra Chief Minister, said at the Third Annual Meeting of the AIIB here.
According to Fadnavis, though the State has already tied up investments with Indian banks, AIIB too could participate in the Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway as the project is a good example of sustainable infrastructure projects. “It is a green road and can be a role model for how road construction can be sustainable,” Fadnavis said.
The total project cost, estimated at ₹46,000 crore, is shared by the State government and the Maharashtra State Road Transport Development Corporation (MSRDC).
The State government has tied up with several Indian banks and is also in talks with sovereign funds to bring some equity in the project, Fadnavis added.
The Maharashtra government was reportedly in talks with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and sovereign funds as well as the Korean government for funding the project.
The project, officially known as Mumbai Nagpur Super Communication Expressway, is an 8-lane express-way running through 10 districts and 390 villages in Maharashtra as it connects Nagpur and Mumbai. According to Fadnavis, 93 per cent land acquisition has already been achieved in nine months. “The entire land acquisition has been done through consensus, there was no acquisition by any notification,” he added.
Fadnavis pointed out that by 2025 Maharashtra aims to become a $1-trillion economy, which is more than double from $400 billion in FY18.
Economic growth
“We envisage growth at the rate of 15.4 per cent from today’s rate of around 10 per cent. For that we require a lot of investment …that must go into technologies that are low carbon, more sustainable. I think this is the way forward,” Fadnavis said.
He said the State has made several important policy shifts to embrace the path drawn by the Paris climate change accord and support sustainable development of infrastructure.
Maharashtra and the AIIB are also in discussions for $500-billion funding for Mumbai Metro Line 4 Project.