NEW DELHI — Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari chaired a high-level review meeting today to accelerate the development of High-Speed and High-Density Corridors across Maharashtra. The discussions focused on expediting project timelines to bolster regional connectivity and economic growth.
Expansion of High-Speed & National Corridors
The Minister reviewed a broad spectrum of critical National Highway stretches, focusing on capacity expansion and new alignments:
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Six-Laning Projects: Key sections identified for upgrade to six lanes include Nagpur–Bhandara, Bhandara–Raipur, Nagpur–Amravati, and Pune–Satara.
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Inter-State Connectivity: Significant focus was placed on corridors linking Maharashtra with neighboring states, including the Gwalior–Nagpur, Nagpur–Hyderabad, and Lakhnadon–Durg–Raipur routes.
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Regional Links: Projects like the Durg–Gadchiroli–Mancherial and Taloda–Burhanpur (four-laning) sections were reviewed to improve logistics in tribal and industrial belts.
Discussion on State BOT Projects
A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to nine State Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) projects, covering a total of 527 km on National Highway stretches. These projects are pivotal for intra-state movement:
| Corridor | Lane Configuration |
| Shirur – Ahilyanagar | 4-Lane |
| Ahilyanagar – Wadala – Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar | 4-Lane |
| Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar – Jalna – Watur | 4-Lane |
| Jam – Warora – Chandrapur – Bamni | 4-Lane |
| Nanded – Narsi – Deglur | 4-Lane & 2-Lane |
| Malkapur – Chikhli | 2-Lane |
Strategic Objectives
Minister Gadkari emphasized that these corridors are not just transport routes but economic arteries. The review focused on:
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Accelerated Execution: Removing bottlenecks in the planning phase to ensure timely construction.
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Nagpur Hub Development: Enhancing the NH-44 stretch (MP–Maharashtra Border to Nagpur Bypass) to solidify Nagpur’s position as a central logistics hub.
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Safety & Efficiency: Upgrading high-density routes like Pune–Satara to handle increased traffic volume with better safety standards.
The Ministry has directed officials to ensure that the development of these 527 km of BOT projects and high-speed corridors aligns with the national goal of strengthening India’s rapid transit infrastructure.
