The Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL) was planned in the early 1970s. We are in the year 2015, and, four decades later, the government still cannot make up its mind on basic questions such as who will fund the project, who will build it, and whether an Indian company or a foreign agency should do so. The project was approved in 1996.

Since then, the estimated cost climbed to Rs 8,300 in the year 2000, finally hitting over R9,500 crore in 2015. Post-Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Japan, it was said that the Japan International Corporation Company (JICA) would fund the MTHL project. But now that the PM and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have returned from China, it is being said that a Chinese firm will fund and construct the link.