Mumbai-Nagpur expressway to be named after Balasaheb Thackeray
The proposal to name the expressway after the Sena founder was put forth by Sena minister Eknath Shinde in a cabinet meeting presided over by CM Uddhav Thackeray (Main Image Representational, Courtesy: vaartha.com)
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government on Wednesday decided to name the upcoming Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Expressway (NMSCE) after the Shiv Sena patriarch late Balasaheb Thackeray.
The decision was taken at the cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
The proposal to name the highway after the Sena founder was put forth by Sena minister Eknath Shinde and approved by all cabinet ministers, including those from Congress and NCP.
The project was conceived by the erstwhile Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government. At the time, the state was mulling over naming the Rs 55,335-crore project, a.k.a Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Mahamarg, after late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The Sena, who was a junior partner then, had demanded that NMSCE be named after the late Thackeray. However, a decision on the same was pending.
During yesterday’s meeting, the state government also decided to infuse an additional Rs 3,500 crore share capital into the MNSCE and waive stamp duty on the agreements between agencies working on the project.
The 701 km long NMSCE will be an eight-lane expressway connecting the country’s commercial capital with Nagpur, the second capital of the state and biggest city of the Vidarbha region. It is expected to be ready by 2021.
The highway, which will run through 10 districts and around 390 villages, will cut the travel time between Mumbai and Nagpur from the present 15 hours to just 8 hours.
It will also include four dozen flyovers, 24 interchanges, half a dozen big and small tunnels, over 400 vehicular and 300-plus pedestrian underpasses at strategic locations.
