Finance department snubs state on Pune-Sambhaji Nagar e-way project

Mumbai: The ongoing combat between bureaucrats and politicians received another impetus on Thursday, when the finance department questioned the state’s need for the Pune-Sambhaji Nagar Greenfield Expressway project, which was put up for cabinet’s approval. “This proposal will increase the pressure on the state’s resources.” The public works department had proposed to build an access-controlled expressway between Pune and Sambhaji Nagar, stretching 250 kilometers, at an estimated cost of ₹12,500 crore, with an additional land acquisition cost of ₹3200 crore through the newly formed Maharashtra State Infrastructure Development Corporation. Meanwhile, in the face of the department’s concern on the cost and other queries related to the project’s design, the state cabinet set it aside, but approved packages to develop the Pune-Shirur six lane elevated road at the cost of ₹7,515 crore and the road connecting Shirur-Ahmednagar-Sambhaji Nagar for ₹2050 crore. Last month additional chief secretary of agriculture department V Radha and agriculture minister Dhananjay Munde had locked horns over the latter’s proposal to divert money from the Namo Shetkari Sanman fund for a ₹1400 crore project to distribute nano urea and nano DAP to farmers.