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Work On Bandra-Versova Sea Link To Start From October

The timeline for completion of the Bandra-Versova sea link is five years.

People gather in the rain as the Bandra-World Sea Link bridge stands in the background in the suburb of Bandra in Mumbai, India. (Photographer: Karen Dias/Bloomberg)
People gather in the rain as the Bandra-World Sea Link bridge stands in the background in the suburb of Bandra in Mumbai, India. (Photographer: Karen Dias/Bloomberg)

A joint venture between Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. and Italy’s Astaldi S.p.A. expects to begin work on the second leg of Mumbai’s sea link by October.

“We are hopeful to complete the project ahead of time,” said Lalit Jalan, chief executive officer of Reliance Infrastructure.

Reliance Infrastructure and Astaldi today signed a memorandum of understanding with the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation for the construction of the Bandra-Versova sea link.

The timeline for completion of the project is five years. But the work would be stalled for three months each year due to monsoon, Jalan told the reporters.

The joint venture had bagged the Rs 7,000-crore engineering, procurement and construction contract in May. The other bidders in the fray were L&T-Samsung and Hyundai Development Company-ITD, according to Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation. The total cost of the 17.1-km sea link will be Rs 11,333 crore, it said.

But if the contractor can finish the project six months in advance, a 5 percent bonus of the construction cost will be awarded to it, the corporation’s Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Radheshyam Mopalwar said.

Of the 17.1 km, about 9.6 km will be a cable-stayed bridge like the existing Bandra-Worli sea link. The rest will be along the coast. The sea link will be eight-lane bridge. The project, which will connect the Bandra-Worli sea link, will have two connectors and toll will be collected at each entry and exit points.

The corporation expects about 60,000 vehicles to ply on the Bandra-Versova sea link on the first day and gradually increase to 10 lakh in a year on both bridges, Mopalwar said. Once the sea link is completed, the total time required to cover the entire distance between Worli and Versova will be reduced to 15 mins from 2 hours, he said.