The first phase of India’s US$1.71 billion Coastal Road Project in Mumbai has been inaugurated officially. The northbound carriageways will be ready by May 2024. This stretch of the road stretches 10.6km and has been constructed on reclaimed land, featuring four lanes in either direction. The project will stretch 29km when complete and will cut journey times for drivers to just 9 minutes compared with 40 minutes previously.
In addition, the 19km section of the Haryana section of the Dwarka Expressway linking Delhi and Gurugram has been inaugurated by India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi. The highway is of note as it is India's first elevated highway.
Meanwhile, India's National Highways Infra Trust (NHIT) aims for a $549 million acquisition of a further two road links from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). NHIT is an Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) subsidiary of NHAI and originally intended to buy seven road projects from NHAI but is now looking to purchase seven instead. The financial deal will be achieved through various measures including raising equity.
And work is planned for eight sections of National Highway-913, costing $808 million. This has been approved by India's Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). The route will extend 265.5km and improve transport to and from Arunachal Pradesh.
