India, Dec. 14 -- A second Mumbai-Pune Expressway parallel to the existing one, a new expressway from Pune to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and a major infrastructure boost for Pune - these were some of the projects announced by Union minister for road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari, on Friday.

The new 130-km expressway from Mumbai to Pune, estimated to cost Rs.15,000 crore, will extend from the Atal Setu near JNPA to Pune's Shivare Junction. "The first phase, from Pagote (near JNPA) to Chowk (Panvel), has already been approved. Once completed, the Pune-Mumbai journey will take just one-and-a-half hours, while the Pune-Mumbai-Bengaluru journey can be covered in five-and-a-half hours," said Gadkari, architect of the existing Mumbai-Pu...