Samruddhi E-way may face funds crunch

Mumbai: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ dream project, the Samruddhi Exp-ressway is likely to face a financial crunch. Despite the bankers making a commitment of around Rs 15,000 crore and the monetisation of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) lands contributing Rs 15,000 crore, another Rs 16,000 crore needs to be raised through various means.

MSRDC invited bids on January 17 for the project and will finalise the same by March. The cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 46,000 crore. As of now, bankers are ready to provide Rs 15,000 crore. The MSRDC will sell its Bandra office land and 1,000 acres in Pune to chip in about Rs 15,000 crore. However, the two plots can be sold only after the project’s completion as the project offices are built on them, said senior officials.

The State Bank of India is the fund manager and leading banker for the project. The MSRDC is trying to get more commitments from bankers to raise another Rs 10,000- Rs 12,000 crore for the project, said officials.

The construction cost of the project will be around Rs 28,000, of which Rs 10,000 will be spent in land acquisition. It is expected that around Rs 7,000-Rs 8,000 crore will be generated as interest during the construction period, till they start earning from the revenue collected at the toll plaza, and other sources.

The Rs 1,500 crore collected by the MSRDC from MIDC and the Rs 4,000 crore from Mhada, SRA, MMRDA and CIDCO will be utilised for land acquisition, said sources.

The state government is thinking of trying to put into action other means of revenue generation. One of the ideas is to impose surcharge on diesel and petrol in the ten districts through which the Expressway will pass through. However, fuel prices were increased only a few months ago and the state government had recently reduced the tax. So, imposing the surcharge will be difficult, said officials.  

The MSRDC plans to sell office land in Pune and Mumbai to raise Rs 15,000 crore. However, Congress leader and former CM Prithiviraj Chavan has opposed the proposal. “How can the government sell land in Mumbai and Pune for this project? The CM is diverting the money, which is objectionable. So, the government should declare the details of the project,” he said.