Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be inaugurating the greenfield Mumbai-Nagpur expressway after Deepavali festivities (24 and 25 October).
The 701 km long expressway linking Vidarbha’s largest city with the country’s financial capital is named as Hindu Hridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Samruddhi Mahamarg.
“Inauguration of the expressway will be done soon, and by the PM himself. Even chief minister Eknath Shinde had requested the PM, following which we have received a positive reply. Only thing remaining is to fix the date, but I don’t think it will happen before Diwali,” deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said.
The Economic Times reports that the Deputy CM said a cargo rail option along the expressway is being explored and the detailed project report (DPR) for a high-speed railway line will be prepared.
The 701-km long Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway connects 10 districts (Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Washim, Buldhana, Jalna, Aurangabad, Nashik, Ahmednagar and Thane), 26 talukas, and 392 villages of the state.
When fully operational, the expressway will reduce the travel time between Nagpur and Mumbai by half, from 16 to eight hours.
The Maharashtra government has also notified the maximum speed limit for vehicles traversing the Samruddhi Expressway.
The government has said vehicles can ply at 100 to 120 km per hour on the expressway. They have also listed speed limitations according to the type of vehicle.
Two-wheelers, auto rickshaws and quadricycles would not be allowed on the highway.