Mumbai, June 2 -- Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will inaugurate the last and final stretch of the Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Expressway - between Igatpuri in Nashik and Amane in Thane - on June 5. The 76-km stretch of the 701-km highway will also be opened to traffic on the same day, said Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) managing director Anil Gaikwad and sources in the chief minister's office. "All the work on this stretch has been completed and CM Fadnavis will inaugurate it on Thursday," Gaikwad told Hindustan Times. The 76-km stretch was constructed at an estimated cost of Rs.1,182 crore, which was jointly shared by the MSRDC and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). It has three interchanges at Igatpuri, Kutghar in Shahapur, and Amane in Thane. "It also has a 7.8-km tunnel, which is the longest in the entire country," said Gaikwad. Presently, motorists using the old Mumbai-Nashik highway have to ascend 450 metres on the Western Ghats via serpentine roads through the Kasara Ghat. The highway will slash the elevation to 160 metres and reduce the travel time between Igatpuri and Amane from 90 minutes to only 40 minutes. Once the stretch is inaugurated, the 701-km expressway will be fully operational, reducing the travel time between Nagpur and Mumbai from 16 hours to eight hours. Designed for speeds up to 150 km per hour, the Rs.55,000-crore highway incorporates 33 major bridges, 274 minor bridges, 65 flyovers and six tunnels, including the longest one at Kasara Ghat. It passes through 10 districts and 390 villages. The first phase of the expressway - from Nagpur to Shirdi - was inaugurated by prime minister Narendra Modi in December 2022. The second phase from Shirdi to Bharvir (Nashik) was inaugurated in May 2023 by then chief minister Eknath Shinde while third phase - from Bharvir to Igatpuri - was inaugurated in March 2024 by Dada Bhuse, then MSRDC minister. Officially named 'Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg', the highway was a brainchild of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. In the initial years, the project was delayed due to strong opposition against land acquisition by affected farmers. The expressway aims to boost travel, trade and development across Maharashtra....