Making the announcement at Mantralaya this afternoon, Chief Minister Manohar Joshi said the 114.75-km-long stretch would be constructed with private participation and was expected to cost about Rs 1,100 crore.

The four-lane road, he added, would link Panvel with Ambet, a small village in Konkan, in its first phase.

The project will take about two-and-a-half years to be complete, the Chief Minister said. However, ``since there is no favourable response from the private sector, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) will take up the work as in the case of the Mumbai-Pune expressway,'' he added.

The road will begin at Dutungkhar village on the Panvel-Uran national highway 4-B, and will link Rave, Khopar, Davarpada, Dharamtar, Kolghar, Beloshi, Mahadeokhal, Tala, Morba, Nandvi and Ambet villages.

Thegovernment will spend Rs 50 crore towards land acquisition for the expressway. Users will have to pay a toll -- Rs 105 for cars, Rs 150 for buses and Rs 175 for trucks, Joshi said. Clearances from the Union government will be sought soon, the Chief Minister said.