New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved the construction of a six-lane greenfield, access-controlled Nashik–Solapur–Akkalkot corridor in Maharashtra at a capital cost of Rs 19,142 crore.
The 374-km project will be developed on the BOT (Toll) mode and aims to improve regional and national connectivity under the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan.
The corridor will connect key cities such as Nashik, Ahilyanagar and Solapur, with onward connectivity to Kurnool. It will link with the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway near the Vadhawan Port interchange, the Agra–Mumbai corridor at Nashik, and the Samruddhi Mahamarg near Pangri.
The project is designed to provide seamless west coast–east coast connectivity. From the Chennai port side, four-lane corridors are already under development up to the Maharashtra border.
According to the an official statement, the new corridor will reduce travel distance by 201 km and cut travel time by nearly 17 hours, improving logistics efficiency for freight linked to major NICDC nodes such as Kopparthy and Orvakal.
The highway will support average vehicle speeds of 60 kmph, with a design speed of 100 kmph, ensuring safer and uninterrupted movement of traffic.
The project is expected to generate about 251 lakh man-days of direct employment and nearly 314 lakh man-days of indirect employment, while boosting economic activity in Nashik, Ahilyanagar, Dharashiv and Solapur districts.
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