M'rashtra speeds up Rs. 46,000cr e-way project

Getting aggressive in the construction of Rs. 46,000-cr Mumbai-Nagpur, 710 km long expressway, the Maharashtra government has fast tracked the mega project and its detailed project report (DPR) will be finalized very soon after which tenders will be floated in October, said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, adding that the high-speed road corridor, connecting two key cities of the State will pass through nearly a dozen districts, most of them spread over backward Vidarbha and Marathwada regions. The project will be a "game-changer" and also lead to a turnaround in the farm sector and make the dream of sustainable agriculture a reality.

The expressway will start from Nagpur and pass through 30 talukas of Wardha, Amravati, Washim, Buldana, Jalna, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, Nashik and Thane districts. It will have 22 nodes or prosperity hubs where truck terminus, commercial facilities, knowledge city, IT industries, and manufacturing units will come up. Making a departure from conventional approach of land acquisition, the state government has opted for land pooling method by offering cash and developed land annuity-based returns to farmers, thus making them true partners in prosperity.