Open Roads Return: 6 Super Expressways In West & North-west India

One of the biggest BOT (build, operate, transfer) road projects in India, this 6-lane expressway covers a stretch of 150 km and connects Mumbai with Nashik, a major industrial hub of Maharashtra. The e-way is part of the Mumbai-Nashik segment on NH-3. It cost around Rs 4,000 crore and was developed by a clutch of companies including Gammon India, Sadbhav Engineering and B.E. Billimoria & Co. 

This high-speed e-way between Mumbai and Nashik also offers a stunning view as the long straights, fast curves and the ghat sections keep you enthralled. Key features of this project include a 6 km-long elevated corridor, a cluster of seven flyovers for smooth traffic flow, two major bridges, six vehicular underpasses, six pedestrian underpasses and a subway. While the flyover at Pathardi is India’s longest integrated flyover, the 99 km stretch between Vadape (near Kalyan) and Gonde (near Nashik) now runs as a 4-lane divided expressway with 6 flyovers built on its route. Road-widening is also under way on the 60 km Pimpalgaon-Gonde segment.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

This signal-free and toll-free stretch spanning 16.4 km has been built to ease traffic and reduce commute time between South Mumbai (it starts from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) and the North-east suburbs of Chembur – from an hour or more to around 20 minutes. Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) gave the construction contract to Simplex Infrastructure and the road was opened to public in 2013. The project cost amounted to Rs 1,250 crore.

The freeway is divided in three parts – a 9.29 km flyover from Orange Gate on P D’Mello Road to Mahul Creek on Anik-Panjarpol Link Road; a 4.3 km stretch from Anik to the beginning of Panjarpol-Ghatkopar Link Road and an elevated 2.81 km flyover from PGLR to Mankhurd-Ghatkopar Link Road (MGLR) via Govandi. The Orange Gate corridor is the city’s longest flyover and India’s third longest, after the Kanpur Bypass Flyover on NH-2 (25 km) and the P.V. Narasimha Rao Expressway in Hyderabad (11.6 km). While the first and the third part of the freeway are totally elevated, the second segment features a 500m long twin tunnel and two flyovers. Nearly 35,000 vehicles pass the freeway on a daily basis and the maximum allowed speed limit is 60 km/h.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Originally a 2-lane, undivided highway, it has been expanded to a 4-lane divided carriageway, spanning 101 km and slashing the travel time to just 2 hours. The new e-way is a part of NH-9 between Mumbai and Hyderabad but it has only partial access control, which means vehicles can join the highway at various points. To implement the project, a special purpose vehicle or SPV called Pune Solapur Expressway Pvt Ltd (PSEPL) was formed by a consortium including Navinya Buildcon (a venture between Tata Realty & Infrastructure [TRIL] Roads and the Italian group Atlantia SpA) and other partners. It was built on DBFOT (design, build, finance, operate and transfer) basis, at a cost of about Rs 1,400 crore although the initial budget was Rs 1,100 crore.

Image: IJM India Infrastructure

Also known as Mahatma Gandhi Expressway or National Expressway 1, this 95 km stretch is India’s first 4-lane e-way project and started operations in 2004. It connects the two major industrial hubs in Gujarat, cutting down the travel time to less than one hour from the earlier 2.5 hours. The e-way is part of the Golden Quadrilateral project by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and it is now being upgraded to 6 lanes at a cost of Rs 3,300 crore. The project is to be executed on DBFOT (design, build, finance, operate and transfer) basis and delivered in BOT (build, operate, transfer) mode. Originally built at a cost of Rs 475 crore, the expressway currently features two lanes on each side and one service lane, along with exits at Nadiad (50 km from Vadodara) and Anand (35 km from Vadodara). Apart from the Ahmedabad-Vadodara e-way, a 140 km stretch between Ahmedabad and Udaipur and another 56 km of the Gandhidham-Shamkhiyali (Kutch) segment will also be developed as six-lane roads.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

A journey into the heart of historical Rajasthan was made easy when India’s very first 6-lane BOT (build, operate, transfer) road project started operating in May 2005. This 90 km long, access-controlled toll road connects the state capital with the fort city of Kishangarh in Ajmer district and forms a part of the NH-8. Built at a cost of Rs 729 crore, the e-way was constructed by GVK Jaipur Expressway Pvt Ltd (GJEPL) and happens to be the first Indian road built under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. It is also a part of the Golden Quadrilateral under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) that connects all four major metros (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai) to facilitate smooth connectivity.

Image: Wikimedia Commons