Mumbai-Goa highway cost surges 48% to Rs 16,909 crore, many sections still unfinished

An RTI filed by activist Jeetendra Ghadge of The Young Whistleblowers Foundation uncovered that the Mumbai-Goa highway project’s total cost has jumped 48% to Rs 16,909 crore, with Rs 11,577 crore already expended on ten four-laning packages. The Parshuram Ghat-Arawali stretch in the Chiplun-Ratnagiri corridor experienced the steepest rise, its sanctioned budget swelling from Rs 983 crore to Rs 2,226 crore, a 126% increase.

Officials cite land acquisition delays, pre-construction setbacks, statutory clearances and contractors’ financial woes as primary causes of the slowdown. The National Highways Authority of India began the Panvel-Indapur segment in 2011, while the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, via the Maharashtra Public Works Department, started the Indapur-Zarap stretch in 2018. The unfinished sections exacerbate traffic congestion during Ganeshotsav, extending journeys that normally take about seven hours. The Bombay High Court has highlighted the prolonged delays as a hardship for travelers and a fiscal burden on the state.