Mumbai: BMC Issues Letter Of Award To Build Rs 17,000 Crore Coastal Road Extension, Linking Versova To Dahisar

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued letter of award for the Mumbai Coastal Road Project (North), linking Versova in the western suburbs to Dahisar at the northernmost edge of Mumbai.

This came to the light in the civic body's annual budget for the fiscal year 2024-25.

The 22.93 km six-lane project is the second phase of the Mumbai Coastal Road Project (MRCP) and is also known as Versova-Dahisar Link Road (VDLR). It also includes a 4.46km connector to Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR).

The civic body had divided the project into six packages — A, B, C, D, E and F — and invited tenders for all the six packages together in August 2023. The Rs 17,181 crore project has a four-year construction deadline.

According to the BMC, it has awarded the works for packages A and F to APCO Infratech, while J Kumar Infra projects in a joint venture with NCC Limited has been finalised for package B.

Similarly, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) has been finalised for packages C and D, whereas Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has been selected for package E.

However, the budget documents do not provide information about the package details.

The package A will cover a length of 4.5-km and will include elevated roads, a basket bridge, and an arterial road built on stilts. This phase will connect the under construction Versova–Bandra Sea Link interchange in Versova to Bangur Nagar (Goregaon).

The package B will provide connectivity with the Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project which aims to connect the Western and Eastern Express Highways.

Incidentally, the BMC has awarded the construction contract for two underground tunnels as part of the GMLR project to a joint venture between NCC, based in Hyderabad, and J Kumar Infra Projects, located in Mumbai.

The remaining four packages of Versova-Dahisar connector, totalling a length of around 12-km, will provide connectivity from Mindspace Mall in Malad to Dahisar.

Once complete, the Versova-Dahisar extension of the coastal road is expected to reduce the travel time by 70 per cent and will decongest the SV Road, Link Road, and Western Express Highway, which are the currently the only available mode of travel between north and south Mumbai.

At present, the first phase of the MCRP, connecting Marine Drive to the Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL), is close to finishing. According to civic sources, this segment will be partially opened on 19 February 2024.