On 2 December 2022, the Asian Development Bank has acknowledged LEA Associates South Asia Private Limited for its “quality consciousness [sic]” work in compliance with “Social, Environment and GAP indicators” as implemented in the Maharashtra State Road Improvement Project (MSRIP) in the state of Maharashtra, India.
The project entails improving state (or provincial) roads connecting industrial, tourist, religious, and district headquarters to two-lane roads; connecting villages with all-weather roads; and expanding the overall length of Maharashtra’s Road network to 336,994 km. The Public Works Department, Government of Maharashtra, is implementing the MSRIP in phases.
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In the first phase, 451.45 km of roads have been identified as high-priority roads. LEA Associates Pvt Ltd has been awarded the Authority Engineer’s package consisting of five EPC contracts – three in Solapur district and two in Ratnagiri district. The combined length of the project roads is 233.32 km with a design load of 5MSA to 20MSA. Total project cost is INR 639.61 crore. Initiated in July 2020, the work on the project will continue for seven years, including two years of construction and five years of maintenance work.
The project’s immediate outcome will be improved accessibility to social services and markets, increased fuel efficiency, reduced travel time, accidents, vehicle emissions and better employment opportunities outside agriculture, both through improved access to economic centres and increased industrial activities in the project area. The roads under this project are also provided with solar street lights at bus shelters as well as toilet blocks and noise barriers at schools/hospitals to improve safety and hygiene.