The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will construct the Rs 2,881 crore road link to the planned Vadhvan port in Maharashtra on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode.

NHAI will submit the proposal for approval of the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, to take up the project on EPC mode. 

Land acquisition for the road and rail links to Vadhvan port is expected to be completed by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority by March 2025.

The work on the highway connectivity to Vadhvan port is expected to start in May 2025.

The meeting agreed that the build-operate-transfer (BOT) Toll model “may not be feasible” for the 32 km long, eight-lane highway stretch from NH-48 and Delhi-Mumbai Expressway to the planned Vadhvan port as the traffic flow would be low in the initial stages, which will be monetised later through the toll-operate and transfer (TOT) route when the traffic volumes build up after the port becomes operational. 

This was decided at a meeting held on 09 December meeting chaired by Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways.