India's longest bridge covering a distance of 16.5km, a major part of it over the Arabian Sea, was inaugurated today in the country's financial hub Mumbai by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The bridge, named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has been constructed at a total cost of more than Rs 17,840 crore, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

It is about 21.8km long 6-lane bridge having about 16.5km length over sea and about 5.5km on the land. It is the longest bridge in India and also the longest sea bridge in India, an official statement said.

The bridge, whose foundation stone was laid by Modi in 2016 as part of India's push for infrastructure development, will provide faster connectivity to Mumbai international airport and Navi (New) Mumbai international airport and will also reduce travel time from Mumbai to Pune, Goa and South India.

The bridge will cut travel time between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to just 20 minutes, which earlier took two hours.