Overview
- MSRDC formally invited bids on Monday to hire consultants to prepare a detailed project report for widening the roughly 111 km Nigdi–Shilphata stretch of the old Mumbai–Pune highway.
- The DPR will test route options including bypasses around the Lonavala and Khandala ghats and will cover surveys, junction improvements, drainage, utility shifting and road‑safety measures.
- Consultants must also examine land acquisition and land‑pooling approaches plus delivery models such as public‑private partnership, annuity and EPC contracts.
- MSRDC has estimated the job at about ₹5,000–6,000 crore and has proposed extending the existing toll concession by 10–15 years to recoup investment, though the final funding and toll plan will be set by the DPR.
- No construction has started; the DPR work is expected to move into early 2027 and the upgrade is aimed at easing chronic overcapacity on the British‑era route that now carries far more traffic than its four‑lane design, a change that could speed freight and commuter flows while raising land and environmental planning issues.