2 days ago
Coffee table book captures impact of infra projects in Maharashtra under Fadnavis
The Indian Express Group unveiled a special coffee table book capturing the scale, vision and impact of various mega infrastructure projects initiated or completed under the leadership of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis during his tenure as CM and Deputy CM (since 2014).
Titled Mumbai Rising, the book outlines developments that have transformed connectivity, urban transport, public infrastructure and urban housing projects in Mumbai over the past decade.
The 88-page book provides a look into transformative years of the state's infrastructure development — when the state received unprecedented investment after by implementation in sectors such as transport, highway, housing, urban transit and logistics. The projects cut across Fadnavis' stints as Chief Minister between 2014 and 2019, as Dy Chief Minister between June 2022 and November 2024 and then as Chief Minister from December 2024.
From the recently fully-opened 701-km Samruddhi Mahamarg, which brings Nagpur and Mumbai closer by around 9 hours (from travel time of 17 hours), to the expanding Mumbai Metro network, the book documents projects undertaken by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) and Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) and others.
Some key projects featured include the coastal road, the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) also known as Atal Setu, the completed and future corridors of Mumbai Metro, the Thane Creek Bridge 3 and one of the the most-awaited Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA); each signifying a direction towards integrated, sustainable and future-ready urban growth. It also includes a section on urban infrastructure in the metropolitan region and road connectivity, covering the improvement of internal roads, expressway extensions, rural bridges and access corridors in Marathwada, Vidarbha and Konkan region. The book traces how infrastructure has been used as a tool of equitable development, bringing connectivity to regions that had long remained on the drawing board.
The book is a visual documentation and a narrative of policy decisions and administrative reforms too. It also highlights how these infrastructure efforts were possible due to the synergy between Centre and the state. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre, Maharashtra under Fadnavis' leadership was able to pursue its infrastructure ambitions aggressively.
'Mumbai Rising is a tribute to this undying spirit-a curated chronicle of how a city, always in motion, is reimagining itself for the future. In recent years, Mumbai has witnessed a transformative leap across the pillars that define a modern metropolis. The sweeping advances in urban infrastructure, transport, mobility and housing, and the thoughtful establishment of monuments and cultural symbols, convey an overwhelming message-one of vision, growth, and outstanding implementation,' an excerpt from the book's foreword states.
With the coffee table book, The Indian Express aims to inform, inspire and preserve the state infrastructure achievement of over a decade — a resource for both today's and future readers to look back at one of Maharashtra's most transformative phases in urban development.
