Nagpur–Aurangabad–Mumbai express highway

The Nagpur–Aurangabad–Mumbai express highway is a functioning Maharashtra State Highway, as its area lies entirely in the state of Maharashtra, but is being built using National Express Highway standards.

Development

The project was approved on 23 Dec 1999,^[1] to be built in two phases. Major development started in late 2002. In Phase I, a four lane road was constructed. In Phase II, this road is being expanded to a six-lane highway with multiple service roads, tunnels, and flyovers.^[2] It is expected to be completed by 2019.

The first phase of the highway project connects Nagpur and Aurangabad with the capital city of Mumbai in less than the distance covered by the NH 6, the historic route. This section of road saves 65 km distance between the two cities and the travel time of nearly one-and-half hours.^[3][4]

As of the beginning of 2012, the highway was 60% completed. The Aurangabad - Mumbai sector was already in use with a full flow of traffic, while the Nagpur - Aurangabad sector was completed at the end of 2015, bringing the project to 80% completion. It shares the major direct road traffic between these cities, including almost 30%-40% of traffic from NH 6.

The total cost for this expressway is projected to be Rs 46,000 crore ^{[5] [2]} The portions of the road passing through Mumbai, Aurangabad, Nashik, Nagpur will feature CCTV, fibre optics, and educational institutions.^[6]

The completed expressway is expected to reduce the travel time between Mumbai-Nagpur from 18 to 10 hours. The project will pass through 10 districts.^[7][8]

Standards, operations, and route information

Wardha River over-bridge on express highway near Pulgaon

Although this is a state highway, it is built on the National Highway basis. The Maharashtra government is trying to operate this highway through a private party for 30 years to recover its cost.^[9]

The highway bypasses several major cities in Maharashtra state currently serviced by NH 6 and NH 3, though it passes through their districts, and is easily accessible by most. It directly connects Wardha to Jalna, via Pulgaon & Karanja Lad. The Major cities bypassed include: Amravati, Yavatmal, Pulgaon, Akola, Khamgaon, Jalgaon, Dhule, Malegaon, and Nasik.

The route of the highway passes through 12 districts of Maharashtra: Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Yavatmal, Washim, Buldana, Jalna, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, Nasik, Thane and Mumbai Central (including both the Mumbai City & Mumbai Suburban districts)

Route statistics

The total length of this highway is 700 km (430 Miles),^[10] from Nagpur to Mumbai, excluding the portions of NH 7 and NH 3 it covers at Nagpur-Butibori and Ghoti-Kalyan-Mumbai sectors respectively. This highway also covers portions of the Maharashtra State Highways at certain areas, which are now being rebuilt with National Highway Standards.

This highway roughly covers the regions in Maharashtra as,

• Vidarbha : 400 km,
• Marathwada : 160 km and
• Rest of Maharashtra : 140 km
  • (including, Desh or Western Maharashtra, Khandesh and Northern Maharashtra and Konkan regions)

Junctions

• At Nagpur with NH 7 connecting Varanasi - Jabalpur - Nagpur - Hyderabad - Bangalore - Kanyakumari
• At Nagpur with NH 69 connecting Nagpur - Betul - Obedullaganj near Bhopal
• At Nagpur with NH 6 connecting Hajira, Gujarat - Surat - Dhule - Akola - Nagpur - Bhandara - Raipur - Sambalpur - Kolkata
• From Nagpur to Butibori via NH 7
• From Butobori to Wardha via Maharashtra State Highway 3 / NH 204 connecting Nagpur - Wardha - Yavatmal - Nanded - Latur - Tuljapur - Solapur - Sangli - Kolhapur - Pali - Ratnagiri
• At Aurangabad with NH 211 connecting Solapur - Aurangabad - Dhule
• At Sinnar with NH 50 connecting Pune - Nashik
• At Ghoti with NH 3 connecting Agra - Indore - Dhule - Nashik - Kalyan - Mumbai
• Continues to Kalyan & Mumbai via NH 3

See also

• List of National Highways in India (by Highway Number)
• Golden Quadrilateral Project

References