Cabinet approves ₹19,142 crore six-lane Nashik-Solapur-Akkalkot greenfield corridor in Maharashtra

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the construction of the six-lane, greenfield, access-controlled Nashik-Solapur-Akkalkot corridor on BOT (toll) mode in Maharashtra at a total capital cost of ₹19,142 crore.

The project, with a total length of 374 km, aims to strengthen integrated transport infrastructure in line with the PM Gatishakti National Master Plan. It will improve connectivity between major regional centers including Nashik, Ahilyanagar and Solapur, followed by connectivity towards Kurnool.

The proposed corridor will connect to the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway near Wadhawan Port Interchange, the Agra-Mumbai corridor at Nashik via NH-60 (Adegaon) and the Samruddhi Highway at Pangri near Nashik. Once completed, it will provide connectivity from the west coast to the east coast. On the eastern side, a four-lane corridor covering a distance of about 700 km from Chennai via Tiruvallur, Renigunta, Cuddapah and Kurnool to Hasapur on the Maharashtra border is already under development.

According to the government, the primary objective of the access-controlled corridor is to improve travel efficiency. The project is expected to reduce travel time by approximately 17 hours and travel distance by 201 km. It will also enhance logistics efficiency for freight traffic connecting to key National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation nodes at Kopparthy and Orvakal.
The Nashik-Talegaon Dighe section of the corridor will also meet the requirement of the Pune-Nashik Expressway, which has been identified by NICDC as part of the new expressway proposed by the Government of Maharashtra.

Designed as a high-speed corridor, the project will support an average vehicle speed of 60 kmph with a design speed of 100 kmph, enabling safe and uninterrupted traffic movement. The government said total travel time on the route would be reduced by 45%, from about 31 hours to about 17 hours, while congestion and operating costs would also be reduced.

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This corridor is expected to significantly boost regional development by strengthening infrastructure in Nashik, Ahilyanagar, Dharashiv and Solapur districts. In terms of employment, the project is estimated to generate approximately 251.06 lakh man days of direct employment and 313.83 lakh man days of indirect employment, in addition to employment opportunities arising from increased economic activity along the corridor.