SURAT: Nearly four years after its announcement, efforts have started gathering steam to develop Surat-Navsari as a twin citynow.

Principal approval to make a portion of Surat-Navsari road a four lane road at the cost of Rs 57.50 crore, by the state government is seen as a first concrete step in the direction of development of first twin city of the Gujarat.

At present, the Surat-Navsari 30-km road is 18 metres wide, but the increased traffic has made the journey a tiresome one requiring around 60 minutes to 75 minutes. Many consider this as an impediment to the growth of Navsari on the pattern of twin city.

"Now with allocation of the money, we would be able to broaden the road to 30 to 45 metres. Starting from Sachin to Dhola Pipla, which covers a distance of 23 km, will be converted into four-lane," said an executive engineer from roads and buildings department of the state.

At present, the soil sampling is being done and road soldering on both the sides is complete.

"For any development of this magnitude, transport, communications and land use are main issues which needs proper planning and tackling," said Manoj Das, Surat municipal commissioner.

"Land use planning will take place in 2014 when the DP is out. However, work on the ground will begin in three months time," said Das

Navsari collector Sandhya Bhullar told TOI, "We have undertaken the work to develop an internal road to connect Navsari with Surat, which in future will provide another way for the people to commute."

Surat Urban Development Authority (SUDA) made two presentations to the state government in which Navsari is planned as predominantly a residential zone and large expanse of Industrial segment is sandwiched between existing Surat and new areas likely to be developed towards Navsari.

The twin city plan envisages a population of 1.20 crore by 2026 and existence of road, local or metro rail for transport.