India's longest bridge, the 22-km Mumbai Trans Harbour link connecting central Mumbai with a fast-growing commercial hub across the Arabian Sea, will open on Friday in a ceremony by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a centrepiece of his government's infrastructure drive. Mumbai Trans Harbour Link is also known as Atal Setu, honouring the late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
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India's five-year, $1 trillion infrastructure push across the country, a key part of Modi's pitch for a third term ahead of this year's general election, aims both to boost jobs and to keep up with China and other modernising economies. Above. a view of the newly constructed Longest Sea Bridge Atal Setu.
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It also reflects a stronger public financing position for the world's fastest-growing major economy, which is paring its fiscal deficit even as it increases capital investments, although some analysts see potential risks if it cannot also draw more investment from the private sector.
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"Today, the world's largest infrastructure building drive is under way in India." RK Jain, who owns three industrial components factories in the Navi Mumbai area south and east of the city centre, says the Atal Setu bridge and other infrastructure - including a new airport and light rail line - will help to turn the region from a "backward area" into a "premium suburb".
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The $2.2 billion bridge, under construction since 2016, will cut travel time between central Mumbai and the rapidly developing areas of Navi Mumbai - home to one of India's biggest ports as well as new hospitals and universities and global retail chains like IKEA - to 20 minutes from two hours, said Sanjay Mukherjee, head of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority.
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Brokerage firm Jefferies estimated that the Mumbai metro area, India's financial nerve centre and home to 23.6 million people, would complete $10 billion in projects over the 18 months to end-2024, and an additional $60 billion over the next three to seven years.
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India has added more than 50,000 km of national highways since Modi came to power in 2014, government figures show, and now has 150,000 km nationwide. China has more than double that, however, with 382,000 km at end-2021.
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New Delhi this year is allocating 22% of the federal budget to expenditures on infrastructure projects, up from 17% last year, and local governments have also boosted spending.
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The MTHL is India's first sea bridge to incorporate an Open Road Tolling (ORT) system, allowing vehicles to pass through toll booths at speeds of up to 100 kmph without stopping.
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Motorists will be allowed to travel at a maximum speed of 100 kmph on the MTHL, with specific restrictions for different vehicle types. Heavy vehicles, motorcycles, autorickshaws, and tractors are not permitted on the sea bridge.
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