The Union government in-principle agreed to grant Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for the ambitious Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL) project on Tuesday.
The VGF of the 22 km-long sealink between Sewri and Nhava was uncertain due to several technical and legal issues.
“The Empowered Institution of Department of Economic Affairs, ministry of finance, on Tuesday agreed in principle to grant VGF to the MTHL project. This is considered to be a crucial step forward in construction of the 22 km-long sea bridge, which will pave way for the development of the Raigad district, Goa etc,” said Rahul Asthana, metropolitan commissioner, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
Following the in-principle nod, documents related to the project will be sent to the empowered committee, which will in turn forward the same to the ministry of finance.
The estimated cost of the project had been hiked earlier this month from `8,800 crore to `9,630 crore. Forty per cent of the project will be funded through VGF. Once completed, the concessionaire will be allowed to collect toll for 35 years.
The project will be implemented on a public-private partnership basis and it’s construction is projected to get completed by the year 2017. Presently, the MMRDA has shortlisted five consortiums for the project.