If there is one road project that has tested the patience — and pockets — of Maharashtra’s motorists, it is the Mumbai-Goa highway. Latest figures reveal a Rs 5420-crore cost escalation in the 17-year-old Mumbai-Goa highway widening project. As per the reply received by RTI activist Jeetendra Ghadge, the sanctioned cost of 10 four-laning packages covering 355 km of NH-66 in Maharashtra has risen from Rs 11,489.14 crore to Rs 16,909.22 crore — a 48 per cent increase.

The Parshuram Ghat-Arawali stretch has recorded the steepest rise, with its cost jumping 126 per cent, from Rs 983 crore to Rs 2226 crore. Cumulative expenditure has already reached R11,577 crore, exceeding the project’s original sanctioned budget, despite several stretches remaining incomplete. During Ganeshotsav, journeys that should take seven hours often stretch beyond 12 hours.