Mumbai, December 31 (IANS). Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday welcomed the decision of the Central Government Cabinet to approve the six-lane new Nashik–Solapur–Akalkot corridor.
He said that this project is linked to PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan. This will reduce travel time, strengthen West-East connectivity, boost logistics and generate employment on a large scale.
In a post, the Chief Minister said, “Heartfelt thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Cabinet for approving the 374 km long Nashik-Solapur-Akkalkot six-lane greenfield corridor (Rs 19,142 crore). It will be a big boost to fast and secure connectivity under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.”
Earlier in the day, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the construction of the 374 km long six-lane access-controlled greenfield Nashik–Solapur–Akkalkot Highway in Maharashtra. The project will be built on build-operate-transfer basis at a total cost of Rs 19,142 crore.
According to the government release, this corridor will connect major cities like Nashik, Ahilyanagar and Solapur and will help in accelerating integrated transport infrastructure development under the PM Gati Shakti Framework.
The greenfield route between Nashik and Akkalkot will be connected to the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway near Wadhawan Bunder Interchange, the Agra–Mumbai Corridor on National Highway-60 (Adegaon) at Nashik and the Samruddhi Expressway at Pangri near Nashik. This corridor will provide direct connectivity from the west coast to the east coast.
Work is already underway on the four-lane road from Chennai to Hasapur (Maharashtra border), which is about 700 km long, the government release said. Linking it with the proposed six-lane greenfield corridor will reduce the travel distance by 201 km and time by about 17 hours.
The Nashik–Akkalkot (via Solapur) corridor will increase the logistics capacity of freight transport, especially for the Koparthi and Orvakalu nodes of the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation. The Nashik–Talegaon Dige section will play an important role in the development of the proposed Pune–Nashik Expressway.
This project will be part of the new expressway network developed in collaboration with NICDC and Government of Maharashtra. It is designed with access-controlled corridors and closed tolling facilities, allowing an average speed of 60 km/h and a design speed of 100 km/h.
According to officials, this corridor will reduce the total travel time by about 45 per cent, from about 31 hours to about 17 hours and will ensure fast, safe and seamless movement of passengers and freight.
The project is expected to generate approximately 2.51 crore direct and 3.14 crore indirect employment opportunities. Additionally, increased economic activity along the corridor will create more job opportunities.
This corridor will prove to be very beneficial for Nashik, Ahilyanagar, Dharashiv and Solapur districts in improving connectivity, logistics capacity and regional economic development.
–IANS
AMT/DKP