Rel Infra-Hyundai to build Worli-Haji Ali sealink

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) on Monday said that Reliance Infrastructure-Hyundai consortium would build the sealink between Worli and Haji Ali.

"The work on the Rs 4,301 crore (Rs 43.01 billion) project would start in November and end by 2014," MSRDC chairman and minister for public works (public undertakings) Jaydatt Kshirsagar said.

The Cabinet sub-committee on infrastructure, headed by Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, recently gave the go-ahead to the consortium led by Reliance Infrastructure Limited.

Reliance Infrastructure bagged the contract to construct the 4.7-km extension of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL) after quoting the lowest viability gap fund, the sum the developer seeks from the government to make the project viable, of Rs 1,392 crore (Rs 13.92 billion).

As per the MSRDC model, the bidder for the Worli-Haji Ali link will have to pay Rs 1,634 crore (Rs 16.34 billion) upfront to the MSRDC to 'buy out' the BWSL, the minister told reporters at Vidhan Bhawan.

The BWSL is partially operational and owned by the government. A Haji Ali-Nariman Point to Cuffe Parade sealink at an estimated cost of Rs 5,439 crore (Rs 54.39 billion) is also being considered, the minister said.