Mumbai: Big infrastructure projects set to transform India’s financial capital in 2025

Mumbai: In 2025, some of the most important infrastructure projects in Mumbai will finally be ready. These projects have been planned and built over many years. When completed, they will improve how people travel, strengthen the city’s transport network, and help Mumbai grow into a smarter, better-connected city on the global map.

The Mumbai government is working on many new developments, but five major projects stand out due to their scale and importance. These include the Navi Mumbai International Airport, Metro Line 3 (Aqua Line) Phases 2 and 3, the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, the Mumbai-Pune Missing Link, and the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR) Extension.

The Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is under construction in the Ulwe-Kopar-Panvel region. It is being built to take pressure off the already crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. The design includes three terminals shaped like a lotus flower and all will be linked together. After full completion, the airport will be able to handle 90 million passengers per year. In the first stage alone, it will serve 10 million people annually. It will feature two runways, each 3,700 meters long. The project is a partnership between the public and private sectors. The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) will offer a direct road to the airport, making it easy to reach. This airport is likely to open by April 2025 and will be named after the late leader DB Patil.

Metro Line 3 in Mumbai, also known as the Aqua Line, is an underground metro line that is being developed in three phases. The first phase, which runs from Aarey JVLR to Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), opened to the public on October 5, 2024. The second phase will connect BKC to Worli, and the third phase will run from Worli to Colaba. These two parts are expected to open for daily use by May 2025. Once completed, the full line will make traveling between important areas of Mumbai much easier and faster.

The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is one of India’s most talked-about road projects. It is not only important for Delhi and Mumbai but also for the entire country. This road will connect India’s capital city directly with its financial hub. Even though the full expressway will be ready by 2026, major parts—especially between Delhi and Kota—will be available for public use in 2025. The expressway will also pass through states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, helping improve travel in many areas.

This project adds a 13-kilometer-long stretch to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. It aims to reduce the travel distance between Khopoli and Sinhgad Institute by 5.7 kilometers and save 20 to 30 minutes of travel time. The link will include modern safety tools like an Intelligent Traffic Monitoring System and special firefighting tools. It will help reduce heavy traffic, especially near Khandala during the monsoon season. The link will also feature the world’s widest twin tunnels, India’s tallest cable-stayed bridge in Tiger Valley, and an 840-meter viaduct. Navayuga Engineering is in charge of the work, and the project is expected to finish by June 2025.

The Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR) extension is a 5.4-kilometer-long raised road being built in Mumbai. This road is meant to improve travel between the city’s eastern and western suburbs. It will provide a signal-free route that connects the Eastern Express Highway to the Western Express Highway. It will also pass through key places like Vakola and BKC. The project was originally meant to finish in 2019, but the new completion target is January 2025. The total estimated cost of the project is around ₹650 crore.