MSRDC to rope in agency to prepare DPR of ambitious Ngp-Goa Shaktipeeth Expressway
| Date :21-Oct-2022 |
By Sagar Mohod
Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has got going on the Pavnar-Patradevi (Nagpur-Goa) Maharashtra Shaktipeeth Expressway with aim to provide an alternate route to Goa from the second capital of the State.
The corporation is planning to rope in a consultant for preparation of a feasibility report for the six-lane expressway envisaged by Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The expressway will promote inter-state trade plus boost cultural ties of Vidarbha with Goa inter-alia with Marathwada, Western Maharashtra and Konkan regions as it would offer faster connectivity.
The expressway would pass through 11 districts of the State and provide faster movement from Vidarbha to interior Western Maharashtra and Konkan by-passing crowded stations of Mumbai and Pune. The new project has come-up on MSRDC table even as it is busy wrapping-up Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Mahamarg that incidentally was launched by erstwhile Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena Government.
Shaktipeeth Expressway map released by MSRDC depicts the alignment starting from Pavnar in Wardha district and passing through Yavatmal, Hingoli, Nanded, Parbhani, Latur, Beed, Osmanabad, Solapur, Kolhapur, Sindhudurg to Patradevi, it is in Pernem tehsil of North Goa, one of the popular tourist destinations of the country.
The task for consultant is to prepare detailed project report (DPR) outlining the project cost that would be required to execute.
Further, land acquisition for the ambitious project needing bifurcation of government land, private land, forest land and so on. The most important part of the DPR is a study of the soil as that determines the thickness of road, the material to be used for construction and how much concentration or proportion of concrete. Therefor, along with Topographic Survey, Pavement Investigation and Geo-technical Investigation are also to be carried out on the planned route for the Shaktipeeth Expressway. The consultant would be required to work with MSRDC till awards of contract to successful bidders at later stage.
A critical note added by MSRDC while inviting consultants for the project is about the rate of rate of return.
It may be mentioned that in case internal rate of return (IRR) was lesser than 12 per cent then the project report would recommend measures to reduce the total cost.
IRR metric is used in financial analysis to estimate the profitability of potential investments as State is keen to keep finance under tight control. MSRDC has given liberty to the agency to be appointed for preparing the DPR to modify the plans by eliminating some structures that are must in Expressway after a period of 10 years.
According to the corporation, it can be done by integrating existing road network into the expressway project instead of new construction or by considering minimum Viability Gap Fund (VGF) from State Government, such that the IRR reaches a minimum of 12%.
The concept note prepared by MSRDC underlines that Shaktipeeth Expressway should provide inter-changes at existing religious and other important places. The roadway would lay thrust on creating agri-based and industrial production centres that can boost the State’s economy moreover stimulate the job market. The Expressway would connect important places including Sewagram, Karanja Lad , Mahur, Aundha Nagnath, Takhat Sachkhand Gurudwra Nanded, Parli Vajaneth, Ambagogai, Latur, Osmanabad, Tuljapur, Pandharpur, Akalkot, Gangapur, Solapur, Manalvedha, Audumbar, Narsobachiwadi, Kolhapur, Adampur of Saint Balumama, Kunkeswar, Sindudurg and Patradevi etc., further to Goa.
MSRDC has also suggested various studies for consultant including origin-destination and commodity movement surveys that can help in planning inter-changes, turning movement surveys for estimating
peak hour traffic that helps with designing major and minor intersections, axle load survey to help ascertain strength needed for roads, speed delay surveys that can help in fixing maximum average speed for vehicles in future and other technical investigations.