The Indian Government has decided to widen the Mumbai-Goa stretch of National Highway-17 to four lanes, with an estimated cost of INR71,000m ($1.56bn).

Indian Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways R P N Singh said the entire work would be completed by 2014-15.

The Mumbai-Goa stretch of NH-17 spans 597km, which includes 475km in Maharashtra and 122km in Goa.

Work has started on a 25km stretch of the Highway.