India, June 6 -- "A decade-old dream has been realised. It's not just a road but a corridor of prosperity for Maharashtra," said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, referring to the Nagpur-Mumbai Expressway, whose final stretch he inaugurated on Thursday.

Throwing open the 76-km stretch between Igatpuri in Nashik and Amane in Thane, Fadnavis also said the expressway would halve travel time between Mumbai and Nagpur, to just eight hours.

He said the 701-km-long road corridor, officially called the 'Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg', would soon be connected with one of the state's most ambitious mega-projects - the Vadhavan Port being built in Palghar district.

The expressway is already connected to the...