The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) will be ready by 2022, Ryoji Noda, Consul-General of Japan in Mumbai, has said, according to The Hindu.

Work on the project, a 22-km-long sea-link connecting Mumbai with its satellite city Navi Mumbai, got off to a start on 25 April with the contractor conducting soil testing in the Nhava Sheva creek.

The sea-link, on the drawing board since the 1970s, includes a 16.5 km long six-lane bridge over the creek and viaducts totalling 5.5 km on either side.

The link will provide direct access to Navi Mumbai, Nhava Sheva Port, Mumbai-Goa Highway, Mumbai-Pune Expressway and the Navi Mumbai International Airport.

The project’s cost has jumped from Rs 4,500 crore in 2005 to Rs 9,360 crore in 2013 and Rs 11,000 crore in 2014 estimates. Now, it is pegged at Rs 17, 800 crore.

The Japanese International Cooperation Agency is financing 85 per cent of the project. The loan has been offered with a 10-year grace and a 30-year repayment period. India is the largest beneficiary of Japan’s foreign assistance.