Maharashtra plans Shaktipeeth Expressway connecting Nagpur to Goa

Even as the Samruddhi Mahamarg is nearing completion, the Maharashtra government has planned a Shaktipeeth Expressway - which would be India’s longest expressway.

The Shaktipeeth Expressway would connect Nagpur to Goa.

At the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde spoke about the Samruddhi Corridor and Shaktipeeth Expressway.

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“The Maharashtra Shaktipeeth Expressway is planned to connect three Shaktipeethas, two Jyotirlingas, and pilgrimage centres in east, west, and south Maharashtra. This will reduce the travel time between Nagpur and Goa by 10 hours,” Shinde told the crucial meeting on the theme of ‘Viksit Bharat @ 2047: Role of Team India’.

At about 760 km, the Shaktipeeth Expressway will be even longer than the Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Highway, which is formally known as Hindu Hruday Samrat Balasaheb Thakaray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg.

“The Samruddhi Mahamarg, which is almost complete, will reduce the travel time between Mumbai and Nagpur to just 6-7 hours,” said Shinde, who has overseen the project as Public Works (Public Undertakings) Minister and Chief Minister.

As far as the Samruddhi Mahamarg is concerned, the Phase-I of the project from Nagpur to Shirdi was inaugurated on 11 December, 2022 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Nagpur-Shirdi stretch is around 520 kms.

On 26 May, 2023, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the Phase-II of the expressway from Shirdi to Igatpuri in Nashik district, a distance of around 80 kms.

With 600 kms complete, the focus would now be the connection between Igatpuri and Mumbai - a distance of 101 kms - and in another few months, Phase-III would be ready.

The Shaktipeeth Expressway will pass through 11 districts, connecting parts of Vidarbha, Marathwada, and Konkan with each other. The districts it will connect include Wardha, Yavatmal, Hingoli, Nanded, Parbhani, Latur, Beed, Osmanabad, Solapur, Kolhapur, and Sindhudurg, which is at the Maharashtra-Goa border.