Fadnavis announces Rs 23,487-cr metro line to Gateway of India, underground tunnel network

Synopsis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis unveiled ambitious infrastructure plans for Budget 2026-27. The state will see extensive metro networks and expressways for enhanced connectivity. Key projects include underground tunnels in Mumbai and Pune, and a Rs 23,487 crore metro line to the Gateway of India. These developments aim to transform passenger and freight transport across the state by 2047.

By PTI

Mar 06, 2026, 08:02:00 PM IST

Mumbai, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday announced key infrastructure projects in the Budget 2026-27, including a network of underground tunnels in Mumbai and Pune and a Rs 23,487-crore metro line to the Gateway of India.

Fadnavis, in his Budget speech in the state assembly, said that the government plans to develop 1,200 km of metro lines and more than 6,000 km of expressways to create a continuous connectivity network for passenger and freight transport by 2047.

He said work on the 490 km metro network in Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur have been taken up, and of these, 173 km are open for traffic.

Another 50 km of metro rail route will become operational in the coming year, and 165 km will be completed by 2029, he added.

The government has also undertaken Metro Line 11 from Wadala to the Gateway of India, a fully underground project worth Rs 23,487 crore, with plans to extend the same from Dharavi to Bandra suburban station and Bandra terminus, Fadnavis said.

He further said that the Navi Mumbai Metro 2 from Taloja to Khandeshwar, costing Rs 5,575 crore, will improve the transport system in the satellite town.

Fadnavis informed the assembly that the construction of a launching shaft for the underground tunnel between Orange Gate, Eastern Freeway and Marine Drive has been completed.

The government plans to complete the project by December 2028, he said.

The chief minister said the works on the first phase of the Goregaon-Mulund underground tunnel, connecting the eastern and western suburbs of Mumbai, are in the final stages, while the Thane-Borivali underground tunnel would be completed by June 2028.

Under the integrated underground road project, the Bandra-Worli Sealink will be connected to the bullet train station at the Bandra Kurla Complex, from where it will be connected to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.

The government also proposes to build an underground tunnel of about 6 km and an elevated road of 9 km in Mira-Bhayander, he informed.

Fadnavis said that an elevated road from the Atal Setu to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway is planned to be completed by February 2027 at a cost of Rs 1,102 crore.

Work on the Sewree-Worli elevated road, for signal-free traffic between the Atal Setu, Coastal Road and the Bandra-Worli Sealink, is underway and is planned to be completed by September 2026, he said.

Moreover, approval has been granted to build an elevated road from Thane to the Navi Mumbai International Airport, he said, adding that a greenfield expressway from Kalyan in neighbouring Thane district to Latur is proposed and its alignment process is underway.

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