India’s first sea highway was thrown open to motorists in July amid much brouhaha, expectations and swelling pride — “engineering marvel,” “dream ride” and “landmark” were some words used to describe the Bandra-Worli Sealink.
Eight months later, with four additional lanes but surprisingly little traffic, the euphoria is muted.
Analysts wonder if there is a need for the new lanes when the original four are rarely jammed. Motorists who use the bridge have found it to be mostly empty, with a vast majority of drivers reluctant to pay the $1 toll — which is about the price of a meal at an average restaurant in the city.
“I think MSRDC overestimated the number of commuters who would use the sealink,” said Gaurav Dua, infrastructure analyst and head of research at Sharekhan, an online share-trading portal.
Maharashtra State Regional Development Corporation, or MSRDC, the state agency in charge of the sealink, claims otherwise.
The state agency’s estimates for traffic plying on the sealink in the first three years was pegged at more than 50,000 passenger car units a day, according to S.M. Sabnis, the agency’s chief engineer. Those expectations have been quite exact so far, he said. The sealink, according to him, logs traffic of 45,000 to 50,000 cars per day.
The bridge has a capacity of 75,000 passenger cars at a time, with one bus being equivalent to three passenger cars.
“Our revenue estimate for the first three years was 750 million rupees per year,” Mr. Sabnis said. “We have contracted out the toll collection at the sealink and receive 2 million rupees per day, in revenue.”
Sharekhan’s Mr. Dua said that the sealink, which was built as a respite to commuters traveling from north to south Mumbai, does not serve its purpose. “I think the traffic on the sealink is much lower than 45,000 cars a day,” he said.
Like many other well-intentioned projects in India, the sealink — meant to ease congestion at Mahim causeway and decrease travel time — is a victim of poor planning, particularly at its exit points, by infrastructure and state officials. Logjams at the Worli exit are not a rare sight, causing a 2.8-kilometer drive to Mahalakshmi station to take as much as an hour during peak times.
“I know many people who would rather commute through Mahim because of the bottleneck on both sides of the sealink,” Mr. Dua said. “To increase its usage and make travel more efficient, we have to ensure that bottlenecks are sorted out. Otherwise, it makes no sense to take the sealink.”
The highway is one of many infrastructure projects underway in India, which the government hopes will boost and maintain the country’s economic growth rate. It is banking on private players like GMR Infra, L&T, Punj Lloyd and Jai Prakash Associates to fund development, since India’s public and private sector banks are already stretched.
At a conference in New Delhi two weeks ago, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India needed to boost its infrastructure spending to $1 trillion over a five-year period beginning April 1, 2012. The 2010-2011 Union Budget provides 1735.52 billion rupees ($38.49 billion) for infrastructure development.
According to research by Sharekhan, India will need to invest 10 trillion to 12 trillion rupees ($222-266 billion) on roads in the next decade and build close to 35,000 to 40,000 kilometers of highways and expressways.
The government of India presently plans to spend 12 billion rupees ($266 million) on building 20 kilometers of road, per day.
Eight months later, with four additional lanes but surprisingly little traffic, the euphoria is muted.
Analysts wonder if there is a need for the new lanes when the original four are rarely jammed. Motorists who use the bridge have found it to be mostly empty, with a vast majority of drivers reluctant to pay the $1 toll — which is about the price of a meal at an average restaurant in the city.
“I think MSRDC overestimated the number of commuters who would use the sealink,” said Gaurav Dua, infrastructure analyst and head of research at Sharekhan, an online share-trading portal.
Maharashtra State Regional Development Corporation, or MSRDC, the state agency in charge of the sealink, claims otherwise.
The state agency’s estimates for traffic plying on the sealink in the first three years was pegged at more than 50,000 passenger car units a day, according to S.M. Sabnis, the agency’s chief engineer. Those expectations have been quite exact so far, he said. The sealink, according to him, logs traffic of 45,000 to 50,000 cars per day.
The bridge has a capacity of 75,000 passenger cars at a time, with one bus being equivalent to three passenger cars.
“Our revenue estimate for the first three years was 750 million rupees per year,” Mr. Sabnis said. “We have contracted out the toll collection at the sealink and receive 2 million rupees per day, in revenue.”
Sharekhan’s Mr. Dua said that the sealink, which was built as a respite to commuters traveling from north to south Mumbai, does not serve its purpose. “I think the traffic on the sealink is much lower than 45,000 cars a day,” he said.
Like many other well-intentioned projects in India, the sealink — meant to ease congestion at Mahim causeway and decrease travel time — is a victim of poor planning, particularly at its exit points, by infrastructure and state officials. Logjams at the Worli exit are not a rare sight, causing a 2.8-kilometer drive to Mahalakshmi station to take as much as an hour during peak times.
“I know many people who would rather commute through Mahim because of the bottleneck on both sides of the sealink,” Mr. Dua said. “To increase its usage and make travel more efficient, we have to ensure that bottlenecks are sorted out. Otherwise, it makes no sense to take the sealink.”
The highway is one of many infrastructure projects underway in India, which the government hopes will boost and maintain the country’s economic growth rate. It is banking on private players like GMR Infra, L&T, Punj Lloyd and Jai Prakash Associates to fund development, since India’s public and private sector banks are already stretched.
At a conference in New Delhi two weeks ago, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India needed to boost its infrastructure spending to $1 trillion over a five-year period beginning April 1, 2012. The 2010-2011 Union Budget provides 1735.52 billion rupees ($38.49 billion) for infrastructure development.
According to research by Sharekhan, India will need to invest 10 trillion to 12 trillion rupees ($222-266 billion) on roads in the next decade and build close to 35,000 to 40,000 kilometers of highways and expressways.
The government of India presently plans to spend 12 billion rupees ($266 million) on building 20 kilometers of road, per day.
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