MUMBAI, Jan. 28 -- The state government has approved a 35-km-long metro line that will connect the Mumbai and Navi Mumbai airports. The proposed metro corridor, Line 8, will include a 9.25-km-long underground stretch; the remaining 24.64 km will be elevated. It will have 20 stations. The project, estimated to cost Rs.22,862 crore and requiring 30.7 hectares of land acquisition, has been cleared by the cabinet committee on infrastructure, said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday. In Mumbai, the first stretch will be an underground corridor from Terminal 2 at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) to Ghatkopar east. This 9.25-km-long stretch will include six stations, while the remaining 24.64-km-long stretch will be elevated. Line 8 will link up with Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) on the Central Railway and three other metro routes. The Navi Mumbai airport, inaugurated last year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, began commercial operations on December 25, 2025. However, travellers have complained of last-mile connectivity issues, marring the experience of using Mumbai's second airport. Fadnavis said Metro Line 8 will be completed in three and a half years. Unlike other metro projects, built on a EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) model, this one will be built through public private participation (PPP). In the EPC model, while the government funds the project, the private sector partner provides the engineering and construction requirements. For the new Metro Line 8, however, the state and central governments will each contribute 20% of the cost as viability gap funding (VGF) and the rest will come from the contractor. The state decided to opt for this model to make the project financially feasible for the operator. It wanted to avoid the PPP model used to build Metro Line 1 (Ghatkopar to Versova). The proposed Metro Line 8 was one of many decisions cleared by the cabinet committee on infrastructure on Tuesday. Fadnavis said approval was also given to a 66-km Nashik City Ring Road, to be developed through the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). The green signal was also given for the revised alignment of the Navegaon Mor to Surjagad highway in Gadchiroli district. The new four-lane highway will facilitate transportation of minerals even as the state approves mining projects in the district. Fadnavis directed the authorities to launch these mega-infrastructure projects only after land acquisition and all the necessary permissions were obtained. He also said these projects should be completed within three years after land acquisition. He also directed that work on the extended stretches of the Samruddhi Mahamarg (Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway), namely the Nagpur-Gondia and Bhandara-Gadchiroli stretches, be expedited. He added that an 'auto-mode' system be developed to provide financial incentives to contractors who meet their project deadlines....