Source: Swarajya
Among the contenders are industry leaders such as Afcons Infrastructure, APCO Infratech, GR Infraprojects, NCC, PNC Infratech, and state-owned Ircon International Limited (IRCON).
It may be noted that the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) pre-qualified a total of 18 firms to undertake the construction of this expressway.
Subsequently, in January of this year, MSRDC invited price bids from these pre-qualified firms for the construction of the expressway in six separate packages, designated as JNE-1 to JNE-6. Each package comes with a construction deadline of 900 days.
Connectors To Samruddhi Mahamarg
Formally known as the ‘Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg,’ this 701-km expressway links Nagpur, the winter capital, to Mumbai, the financial hub.
Currently, the longest expressway in the country, it traverses 10 key districts of the state and indirectly connects other 14 other, establishing a seamless connection between Maharashtra’s eastern region and the economic mainstream western region.
It’s noteworthy that the Maharashtra government has proposed developing additional connectors or access-controlled expressways to link major districts in the state to the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Mahamarg.
One such connector is the Jalna-Nanded greenfield expressway, offering direct and expedited connectivity for Nanded, Hingoli, Parbhani, and Jalna districts to Mumbai and onwards to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust.
Spanning 179.85 km, the Jalna-Nanded expressway begins at Jalna on Samruddhi Mahamarg, passes through Parbhani, and Nanded districts before terminating on the Nanded-Deglur-Telangana NH 161.
This six-lane expressway will have a design speed of 120 kmph, with a 100-metre right-of-way. A unique feature of the expressway is the provision of a 20-metre space for the construction of a high-speed rail corridor.