December 12, 2025: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has moved to fast-track connectivity between the Vadodara–Mumbai Expressway and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) by planning a new 14km link road from Morbe to Kalamboli via Taloja. With the expressway’s Virar–JNPA peripheral curve nearing completion, this link will streamline freight movement and provide the Mumbai Metropolitan Region with quicker access to Atal Setu and the Navi Mumbai airport. The decision comes amid persistent delays in the Virar–Alibaug corridor, which was intended as a parallel peripheral route and a southern extension of the expressway.
The Delhi–Mumbai Corridor—of which the Vadodara–Mumbai Expressway is a crucial part—is already 70% complete in Maharashtra, where the eight-lane highway is being built between Talasari, Virar, and Morbe. At Morbe, near Badlapur, NHAI has nearly finished constructing a tunnel, which was originally to connect to Karanjade under the MSRDC’s Virar–Alibaug corridor. However, the long-pending MSRDC project has seen little progress, prompting the Centre and state to authorise NHAI to develop its own independent 14km road link.
Sources indicate this shift reflects a quiet shelving of the multi-crore Alibaug–Virar corridor. The earlier plan involved a 21km greenfield stretch shared by both projects, but NHAI now intends to widen the existing 10km road through Taloja MIDC and build only the first 4km from Morbe. “We just have to construct the first 4km route from Morbe to Taloja, the remaining 10km already exists and will be widened,” said an NHAI official.
The ₹100-crore Morbe–Kalamboli link has secured approval from the state secretariat. While MSRDC was expected to build the Morbe–Karanjade connection and handle land acquisition, NHAI has opted for a more practical and cost-efficient alignment toward Kalamboli. MSRDC MD Anil Gaikwad was unavailable for comment.
Source: The Times of India
