Aurangabad, Dec 4 (PTI) The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) on Saturday kicked off its land acquisition programme for the proposed Jalna-Nanded extension to the 701-mm Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Mahamarg, an official said. The MSRDC"s vice-chairman and MD Radheshyam Mopalwar addressed a workshop of revenue department officials in Maharashtra"s Nanded, which was attended by collectors of three districts and land acquisition teams, the official said. "The basic processes of land acquisition have already been initiated and now the corporation would like to begin joint measurement surveys in Parbhani, Jalna and Nanded districts soon," Mopalwar said. The corporation wishes to complete all the processes related to the land acquisition within seven months (June 2022), he said. "We are confident of issuing of tenders for the construction of Nanded-Jalna stretch of the Samruddhi Mahamarg by March 2022 in order to adhere to the completion time frame of October 2024, as indicated by the state government," Mopalwar said. About 2,200 hectares of land will be needed for 179-km stretch in three districts and a total cost of the project, including construction is Rs 14,500 crore, an official said. MSRDC joint MD Chandrakant Pulkundwar, District Collectors from Nanded and Parbhani Vipin Itankar and Rajesh Katkar respectively attended the meeting. Pulkundwar in his opening remarks said, "Jalna-Nanded stretch of the Samruddhi Mahamarg will reduce the travel time between Nanded and Mumbai to six hours. The project will strengthen the infrastructure of the region and attract non-agriculture employment and industrial growth." PTI AW ARU ARU