Mumbai: The bids for the Mumbai-Nagpur expressway will be opened by May 17, two weeks after which the work orders will be issued by the authority. So far, the land acquisition is nearly 80 per cent complete — the authority requires at least 90 per cent completion to issue the work order.
According to officials, 22 bidders have come forward during the pre-qualification process to implement 1-13 packages of the expressway project. “On May 17, the bids will be opened after which two weeks will be taken for evaluating the bids and awarding the contract,” said a MSRDC official.
The entire corridor is divided into 16 packages for implementation, but two deadlines have already been missed since the authority couldn’t acquire much of land required for the project to start the work.
As per official figures, so far more than 17,000 farmers across the alignment have given up their land for the project. Higher officials from the MSRDC revealed that 98 per cent have given their consent for the project. Out of the total 8,000 hectares of land required, nearly 6,000 hectares have been acquired. The authority is facing opposition from farmers in Nashik and Thane villages.
