remaining amount will be borne by the State Government. The MMRDA allocated towards the project in its budget for the 2017-18 fiscal. The MMRDA stated that it had spent to reduce the environmental impact of the MTHL construction as of August 2021. Prior to the submission of bids for the project, the MMRDA estimated the project cost at . The actual contract for the project was awarded to three bidders at a combined cost of in November 2017. MMRDA officials stated that they expected the cost to reduce by 6% as a result of the Union Government's decision to lower the goods and services tax (GST) for construction work from 18% to 12%. The revised cost of the contract would now be . The COVID-19 pandemic caused delays to construction which escalated the project cost by around 5-15%. The total cost of the MTHL was estimated as in September 2021. Cost escalation also occurred because of design changes caused by the location of underground utilities which were different from what planners had assumed. Connectivity The MMRDA will construct a 1.5 km long cloverleaf interchange on a 27-acre plot, leased from the Mumbai Port Trust, located east of the Sewri railway station. The loop consists of two lanes branching out from the MTHL and connecting with the Eastern Freeway, the at-grade Messant Road, and the proposed Sewri–Worli elevated road. The Sewri–Worli elevated road will provide onward connectivity to the Coastal Road (at Worli Seaface), Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg, and Acharya Donde Marg. Eastern Freeway The Eastern Freeway is a controlled-access freeway that connects P D'Mello Road in South Mumbai to the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) at Ghatkopar. It was opened on 16 June 2014. Sewri–Worli connector The Sewri–Worli connector, also called Sewri–Worli elevated corridor (SWEC), will connect the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link. It will be a four lane, 17 metre wide and 4.512 km long, cable-stayed bridge, with a height of 27 metres. The Sewri–Worli connector will begin at Sewri (East), and cross the Eastern Freeway, the Harbour Line, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg, Acharya Donde Marg, the existing flyover at Ambedkar Road, Elphinstone Bridge in Parel, and the flyover at Senapati Bapat Marg before passing through Kamgar Nagar and Dr Annie Besant Road, and terminating at Narayan Hardikar Marg at Worli. Ramps will connect the Sewri–Worli elevated corridor with Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg, west of Sewri