This year some of India’s most ambitious infrastructure projects will start operations, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to unveil a slew of projects before the 2024 elections.
The five major upcoming infra projects that will be inaugurated in 2024 are the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, the Navi Mumbai International Airport, the Noida International Airport, the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, and the Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway.
Apart from the above, other major projects set to be inaugurated in 2024 include the Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project, Pune Metro Rail Project, Mumbai Metro Line 3 (Colaba-Bandra-Santacruz Electronics Export Processing Zone), Patna Metro Rail Project, Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line and the Pune-Miraj-Londa Railway Line.
Mumbai Trans Harbour Link
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is implementing the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, scheduled for inauguration on January 12.
It connects Mumbai city with mainland Navi Mumbai, starting at Sewri in South Mumbai and terminating at Chirle near Nhava Sheva.
This project spans 21.6 km and will drastically reduce travel time between the mainland and the island city to just 20-25 minutes.
It is the longest sea bridge to be constructed in India. The plan for a horizontal link has been in the making for over a decade and in the last few years it has gathered momentum.
The six-lane bridge will start from Sewri in South Mumbai and terminate at Chirle near Nhava Sheva. The MTHL is being developed at an estimated cost of INR 18,000 crore.
Noida International Airport
The Noida International Airport, scheduled to be operational by the end of 2024, is being constructed by Yamuna International Airport Private Ltd (YIAPL), a special purpose vehicle formed by concessionaire Swiss company Zurich International AG.
The project is expected to cost Rs Rs 15,754 crore, divided into four construction phases. The estimated cost of Phase 1 is Rs 5,730 crore.
So far, around 80 percent of the work of the airport's runway has been completed and the work on the eight-storey air traffic control building is nearing completion.
Once completed, Phase 1 of the airport will cater to 12 million passengers annually, which will increase to 70 million passengers by Phase 4. The first phase will have one 3,900-metre runway with a capacity of 28 aircraft stands, and will witness 100,000 air traffic movements per year.
Spread across 1,334 hectares, the greenfield airport is located in the Jewar area of Gautam Buddh Nagar district in western Uttar Pradesh, about 75 km from Delhi.
Once operational, it will be the second international commercial airport in the National Capital Region (NCR). A passenger terminal, having an area of 100,000 square metres, will also be constructed.
According to estimates, Jewar Airport will serve 65 lakh passengers (per year) in 2024-25, which is likely to increase to 7 crore passengers per year by 2042-43.
Once its expansion is complete and its six proposed runways are operational, it is expected to be among India’s biggest airports.
Navi Mumbai International Airport
The under-construction Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), being built with an eye on the high air traffic demand, will become operational in 2024.
The airport is being developed and will be operated by Adani Airports Holdings Ltd.
Adani Enterprises manages its airport operations through Adani Airport Holdings, which has the mandate to operate six airports—Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram—as well as Mumbai and the greenfield Navi Mumbai International Airport.
Located at the centre of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) at Ulwe in Navi Mumbai, the NMIA is spread over an area of 1,160 hectares.
The entire cost of the project is Rs 16,700 crore and the airport will have the capacity to handle 2.5 million tonnes of cargo by 2032.
The Navi Mumbai International Airport project is being developed in multiple phases and will have a total capacity of 60 million passengers per annum and 800,000 tonnes per annum of cargo handling capacity.
Western Dedicated Freight Corridor
The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC), which is nearing completion, along with the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC), which was completed in November 2023, are potential game-changers for the country's economy.
The corridors are expected to enable Indian Railways to speed up movement of long-distance goods traffic and decongest railway tracks for passenger movement.
As much as 1,176 km of the 1,506 km WDFC linking Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Navi Mumbai to Dadri on the outskirts of Delhi has also been constructed and the remainder is expected to be completed by May 2024.
The total cost of both the DFCs, including other supporting infrastructure like multi-modal parks and train sidings, is pegged at Rs 124,000 crore.
The western corridor is designed to play a vital role in accelerating economic growth and enabling Indian industry to become more competitive in the global market as the northern and western hinterland gets a fast-track link to the Jawahar Lal Nehru Port in Navi Mumbai.
Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway
The 262-km long Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway is expected to be inaugurated in 2024 and will significantly cut travel time between the two cities. So far, 51.5 percent of the access-controlled project has been completed.
Once operational, the expressway will boast a width of 90 metres, accommodating speeds up to 120 kmph and connecting 20.9 million people across areas such as Kolar, Chittoor, Vellore, Kancheepuram, and Chennai.
The project will be completed in 10 phases, with nine phases expected to be completed in 2024.
The total project cost is estimated to be around Rs 17,000 crore, with the value of each stretch pegged between Rs 900 crore to Rs 3,000 crore.
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