India’s Longest Freeway Crosses Biggest Obstacle. But There’s One More

Excavators heap boulders onto dumpers, cleaning up before construction workers again start blasting through the hillock. Once flattened, the stretch will be part of a 700-kilometre six-laned road from Mumbai to Nagpur. India’s longest freeway that just cleared its biggest obstacle: land acquisition.Maharashtra, the nation’s richest state, completed taking over 7,085 hectares of private farmland last month to build the highway that would cost Rs 55,000 crore, according to the state road authority. By far the toughest milestone for an infrastructure project. Because delays are common as companies and the government run into resistance from owners and also face environment hurdles, causing cost overruns and change in plans.Just a fortnight ago, the Mumbai-Nagpur project evoked criticism from environmentalists after a status report revealed that more than 2.7 lakh trees will be axed. Contractors have already knocked off more than half of these. The road authority, however, promised to plant 8 lakh trees along the highway to make up for the loss of green cover..Maharashtra contributes more than 14 percent to India’s $2.7-trillion GDP, the most by any Indian state. Yet, it offers a contrast between some of the most prosperous and industrialised western regions and poor tribal belt in its east.Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister and a legislator from Nagpur, first mooted the idea of a greenfield highway in 2015 to bridge that gap. But contractors began laying the Samruddhi Mahamarg—or the highway to prosperity—only in January this year as farmers were reluctant to part with the land. The pace of work has picked up now after the holdouts budged.At Waradi village in Aurangabad, some 360 kilometres east from Mumbai, trucks empty rocks blasted from the hillock onto conveyor belts of a crusher—a stream of gravel comes out of the other end. It’s one of the 16 stretches for which contracts were awarded to separate road builders. This one falls in the 54.4-km ninth section—called package—being developed by Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd..About an hour’s drive later, unpaved flat stretches of the road appear. Workers are busy levelling, digging or laying foundation in this 57.9-km part awarded to Larsen & Toubro Ltd.When ready, the it will cut the 14-hour travel time between the two ends of Maharashtra by half. And the road will wind through 10 districts, 26 talukas and 362 villages; allowing vehicles to get on and off at 24 locations, go through five tunnels, and drive over 50 flyovers, and 700 auto and pedestrian underpasses.The state has set the June 2021 deadline for the Nashik-Nagpur stretch. Hilly terrain along the Western Ghats means the Thane-Nashik part will be completed by December 2021. The road authority is, however, looking to finish that six months earlier than planned.The freeway will link the most underdeveloped areas of the state with Mumbai, Chandrakant Pulkundwar, joint managing director at Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, the nodal agency for execution, told BloombergQuint. “The agro-based areas will be connected to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, and their produce will be carried to the port in the shortest time.”.Agrarian BeltWhile Mumbai, Thane, Nashik and Ahmednagar are industrial belts, the agrarian hinterland along the under-constrution highway comprises Jalna, Aurangabad, Buldhana, Washim, Amravati and Wardha districts where farmers grow everything from wheat and pulses to oilseeds and cotton. And it ends in the orange country of Nagpur—also the nation’s zero milestone. That would improve connectivity between the Marathwada and Vidarbha, regions battling rural distress and farm suicides, with the relatively prosperous coastal belt of the state.“Backwardness of Vidarbha remained a concern for politicians and social thinkers,” said Vinayak Deshpande, economist and one of the members of the Kelkar Committee set up in 2012 to study regional imbalances. “The expressway is expected to reduce this imbalance. It will help create non-farm income in the rural areas, enhancing the economy of the region.”It will also boost tourism, Deshpande said, adding that Naxal-violence affected tribal regions like Chandrapur and Gadchiroli stand to gain. “Pilgrimage centres like Mahur and Shegaon will also be developed.”But when the government first approached farmers to acquire land, it was met with distrust. The state proposed to buy directly at up to five times the market rates, according to Pulkundwar. “Communicators were appointed in each village to explain the project. Once farmers were convinced, the purchase was smooth,” he said. “They are very happy.”The government required 8,366 hectares, of which 7,085 hectares was privately owned. It bought 6,741 hectares directly from owners. The rest was under litigation and the state acquired it under the Land Acquisition Act..Bhagwan Mate, 45, parted with his 12.5 acres—as big as seven football fields—in Jaipur village of Aurangabad. “Initially, we were against it. But when we learnt that the government is paying four times the value, we agreed,” said the pomegranate grower. “We got Rs 18.5 crore.”.Mate is not alone. BloombergQuint spoke with more than 40 farmers in his village who gave land for the highway. And they are satisfied with the compensation.Mate’s family bought more land from the money and plans to sell it for development. He also purchased an apartment in Aurangabad. And he’s saving the rest for his children’s education and hopes the road will uplift the region.Nilesh Bane, research fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, has his doubts. Over the years, Vidharbha and Marathwada have been cut off from Mumbai culturally and Samruddhi Mahamarg will bring them closer, he said. But he would wait for the road to deliver promised prosperity to agrarian districts.Bane cited the examples of Mumbai-Pune and Pune-Solapur expressways, which increased urbanisation and caused large-scale migration from rural areas. But there is always the question of jobs, he said, asking: “Can these nodes provide employment? The history of road construction tells us that whenever new roads are built, it definitely helps in urbanisation but does not necessarily boost agriculture and allied activities.”Maharashtra has a plan for that but it’s yet to cross that hurdle.One More ObstacleThe expressway will boost economic activity along its route as markets spring up to provide food and lodging to travellers. That’s not the goal. The state plans to build 24 townships to encourage farm-based manufacturing to lift the local economy and create jobs.To be called Krushi Samruddhi Kendras, or farm prosperity centres, half of the land will be allocated for homes, 15 percent for businesses, 20 percent for roads, 10 percent for green zones and the remaining 5 percent for public use.Maharashtra is looking at pooling 1,000-1,200 acres for each of these hubs rather than buy. Owners will get developed plots equivalent to 30 percent of the land given. To compensate for any loss, they will be offered compensation over 10 years. But having reaped the windfall of a direct sale, farmers don’t want to wait.“They say we will get a developed plot in 10 years whose market value will be much more but how can we predict the future?” asked Kauraji Nighote, a cotton farmer from Hadas Pimpalgaon in Aurangabad’s Vijapur taluka. “If the state gives us money through direct purchase, we can buy some other land and continue farming.”Bahusaheb Patil Shinde, who grows cotton and ginger in his 2-acre farm, said the land-pooling scheme is not in their best interest. “Why should a farmer wait for 10 years? It will be difficult to move to another area after that,” he said. “If he gets the money now, he can buy land elsewhere. The government should follow the Samuruddhi Marg payment model for the township project.”Phulkundwar told BloombergQuint that the state will await farmers’ consent. The government is yet to disclose other details of the manufacturing hubs but directly buying land will increase the cost manifold.Still, Deshpande sees merit in the plan to build manufacturing hubs. The townships will boost agro-based industries by helping farmers market and store produce, he said, adding that cotton growers of Vidarbha stand to gain.But large parts of the highway will go through the regions that face water scarcity. In fact, seven of the 10 districts en route—Ahmednagar, Jalna, Aurangabad, Wardha, Amravati, Buldhana and Washim—were declared drought-hit last year.The government will have to consider how to tackle the issue of water shortage as the new townships are planned in mostly drought-affected districts, Bane said, reiterating that the impact of infrastructure on the economy varies with region. Citing the example of Konkan Railway, he said, “It tremendously improved connectivity but we have not seen much development in the Konkan belt of Maharashtra.”.Watch the full video here:

India’s Longest Freeway Crosses Biggest Obstacle. But There’s One More

India’s longest expressway has crossed one hurdle. There’s one more to go...

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