Rs 11,577cr spent so far, but key stretches remain unfinished.
MUMBAI: The Mumbai-Goa highway has become a long-running infrastructure headache for Konkan commuters, with the four-laning of 355km in Maharashtra now costing ₹16,909.22 crore — nearly ₹5,500 crore or 48% more than its original sanctioned cost, according to fresh information obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The figures, obtained by RTI activist Jeetendra Ghadge of The Young Whistleblowers Foundation from the Union road transport and highways ministry, cover 10 four-laning packages of NH-66 in Maharashtra. The data shows that ₹11,577 crore has already been spent, exceeding the project’s original sanctioned cost of ₹11,409.14 crore, even though work on some stretches remains incomplete. A 2024 parliamentary reply said the Mumbai-Goa NH-66 project had been delayed by land acquisition, pre-construction activities and contractors’ cash-flow problems.
Ghadge questioned the division of responsibility for the highway’s execution. the Maharashtra stretches covered by the RTI are being executed through the state PWD under the national highway programme While the Panvel-Indapur section is being handled by NHAI.
Earlier MoRTH records have also identified Maharashtra PWD as the executing agency for the Indapur-Zarap four-laning packages.
“When a project of this scale has remained incomplete for nearly 15 years despite thousands of crores being sanctioned and spent, the government must answer a basic question: who is ultimately accountable for the delay? In March 2023, Union minister Nitin Gadkari had said the highway would be completed by December 2023 and opened fully by January 2024. In a 2025 parliamentary reply, the revised completion target was September 2025, with the government citing land acquisition, pre-construction activities and contractors’ cash-flow problems. A 2026 parliamentary response subsequently said about 465km of the roughly 485km Panvel-Goa/Maharashtra-border section had been four-laned, with the balance 20km targeted for completion by June 2026; it cited land-related hindrances, clearances and slow contractor progress for delays.
Ghadge said. The highway has also seen repeated missed deadlines.