Metro Line 8: Relief from traffic congestion; Green light for Mumbai-Navi Mumbai Airport Metro Line 8

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In a meeting of the Cabinet Infrastructure Committee held at the Ministry under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, approval was given for the 35-kilometer long connection of Metro Line 8 between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and Navi Mumbai International Airport. Along with this, in the backdrop of the Kumbh Mela, the 66.15-kilometer long project of the Nashik city circumferential road was approved through the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, and the revised 85.76-kilometer alignment of the four-lane cement concrete highway from Navegaon More to Surjagad for mineral transportation in Gadchiroli district was also approved.

The total length of Metro Line-8 is 35 kilometers, which includes 9.25 kilometers underground and 24.636 kilometers elevated route. It will have a total of 20 stations, including 6 underground and 14 elevated. There will be underground stations from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport Terminal 2 to Ghatkopar (East) and elevated stations from Ghatkopar (West) to Navi Mumbai International Airport Terminal 2, with an average distance of 1.9 kilometers between two stations. This project requires 30.7 hectares of land acquisition, with an expected cost of 388 crore rupees, while the total project cost is 22,862 crore rupees.

The expenditure of 3,954 crore rupees has been approved for the Nashik city circumferential road, and a decision has been made to issue a work order if 50 percent land acquisition is completed as a special case. The Navegaon More-Konasari-Mulchera-Hedri-Surjagad highway in Gadchiroli will be constructed as a four-lane cement concrete road according to the revised plan. On this occasion, Chief Minister Fadnavis instructed that land acquisition and all permissions for infrastructure projects should be completed before the project starts. Giving instructions to complete the project within three years after land acquisition, he said that works should be completed on time, otherwise costs increase. The expansion of prosperity highways like Nagpur-Gondia, Bhandara-Gadchiroli should be accelerated and a three-year condition should be imposed when issuing work orders.

The Chief Minister said, if the project is completed within the stipulated time frame, the contractor should be incentivized, and in case of delay, an 'auto mode' system for penalties should be developed. A space should be reserved for the gas pipeline alongside the Gadchiroli highway, as the gas pipeline will be operational up to Surjagad in the future. The meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Chief Secretary Rajesh Agrawal, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) O. P. Gupta, Managing Director of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Dr. Anil Gaikwad, and Managing Director of Maharashtra State Infrastructure Development Corporation Brijesh Dixit. Additional Chief Secretary (Public Works) Manisha Mhaiskar and Managing Director of CIDCO Vijay Singhal made presentations.

This decision will facilitate airport connectivity in the Mumbai metropolitan area, enhance facilities for the Nashik Kumbh Mela, and accelerate mineral transportation in remote areas like Gadchiroli, thereby boosting the state's economic development.