Government Approves Rs 17,036 Crore Bhayandar-Gaimukh Corridor to Decongest Thane
On Monday, the Maharashtra Government approved a Rs 17,036.03 crore, 15.44-kilometre road corridor between Bhayandar and Gaimukh in Thane to ease severe traffic congestion at the northern entry points of Mumbai. The partly elevated and partly underground six-lane link road will connect to Ghodbunder Road and the Western Express Highway, providing an alternative route to bypass heavily congested areas like the Vasai Creek Bridge.
The project, named the Bhayandar-Gaimukh corridor, will be executed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which has also been appointed as the Special Planning Authority for the project's influence area.
The 15.44 km corridor is divided into two major sections. The first leg is a 9.58-kilometre elevated creek bridge with three lanes in each direction, stretching from the Bhayandar end to the Fountain Hotel Junction. The second leg consists of a 5.86-kilometre underground route featuring 3+3 twin tunnels running from the Fountain Hotel Junction to Gaimukh.
Currently, the route between Bhayandar and Gaimukh is highly congested, with travel times ranging from 30 minutes to over an hour due to heavy traffic on Ghodbunder Road. This road handles regional traffic entering from Thane, Kalyan, Dombivli, Bhiwandi, and other eastern suburbs. Additionally, vehicles from northern suburbs like Vasai, Virar, Palghar, and Gujarat along NH-48 merge at the Fountain Hotel Junction.
With the new access-controlled corridor, the travel time to enter Mumbai through the north is expected to drop to approximately 20 minutes. The project will also run alongside the upcoming Metro Line 10, which is expected to further reduce vehicular traffic.
The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs 17,036.03 crore, with the construction cost pegged at Rs 12,947.40 crore. Land acquisition for the project will require 57.76 hectares of private land, costing an estimated Rs 713.94 crore.
The corridor will be built on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis. A private concessionaire will fund 60 percent of the project, while the remaining 40 percent will be covered through Viability Gap Funding, split equally between the central and state governments.
The project is currently under the scrutiny of the Network Planning Group under the PM Gati Shakti initiative. The next steps for the project include obtaining cost approvals from the central government and initiating the tendering exercise. The estimated timeline for completion is five years.
