Work on the Bandra-Versova Sea Link in Mumbai could begin soon, as the Maharashtra government on Monday approved the Rs 7,502-crore project, eight years after the state Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure cleared the proposal, PTI reported.

The Maharashtra Public Works Department issued a government resolution approving the 17-km bridge, which will connect major hubs in the city’s western suburbs and is expected to ease traffic congestion.

The Bandra-Versova Sea Link will be an extension of the existing Bandra-Worli Sea Link (pictured above) and will have roads connecting it to Bandra, Otters Club, Juhu Link Road and Versova Link Road. There will be toll plazas at Bandra, Carter Road, Juhu-Koliwada and Nana-Nani Park, the government resolution said.

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, the nodal agency for the project, will float tenders for the construction in the next four months, The Times of India reported.

The bridge is being built under the engineering-procurement-construction model, where the road development corporation will appoint a contractor to only build the sea link and other contractors to collect toll, repair and maintain the bridge. Motorists will have to pay a separate toll to use the new sea link.

The Maharashtra government has not specified when the work will begin or the deadline to complete the project.