Mumbai, July 2 -- The Maharashtra cabinet sub-committee headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis cleared the Versova-Bandra Sea Link project after a committee of secretaries led by the Chief Secretary approved it on 17 June, according to an official release. The estimated construction cost was given as Rs 1,183.79 crore, with goods and services tax, land acquisition and other charges taking the total outlay to Rs 1,722.40 crore. These amounts equate to approximately Rs 11.838 bn for construction and Rs 17.224 bn for the total outlay. The release set out the fiscal breakdown without providing further financing details.
The new road is expected to handle around 3,500 passenger cars per hour and is intended to substantially ease congestion on key arterial routes. The Worli-to-Fort journey during peak hours was said to take up to 45 minutes and the link is intended to reduce that to around five to ten minutes. Similarly, the Fort-to-Versova travel time, which could reach one hour, is projected to fall to about fifteen to twenty minutes. Authorities presented these travel time estimates as part of the project benefits.
The release stated that about 40 hutments will require rehabilitation and set aside Rs 50 crore for compensation, with a further Rs 20 crore budgeted for fishermen and Rs 20 crore for environmental mitigation measures. In converted terms the compensation for hutment rehabilitation amounts to Rs 500 mn and the sums for fishermen support and environmental measures amount to Rs 200 mn each. The document indicated that these allocations form part of the project cost envelope and will be managed as mitigation and resettlement expenses. The release did not elaborate on schedules for disbursement or the agencies responsible for implementation.
The ongoing Versova-Bandra Sea Link project was given a revised cost of Rs 18,120.96 crore and the release said completion was slated for May 2028. That revised figure equates to approximately Rs 181.210 bn. Progress data released for May 2026 showed about 31 per cent of work completed against a target of 35.84 per cent, signalling a shortfall against the milestone.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.