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Maharashtra Cabinet Advances Shaktipeeth Expressway with ₹20,787 Crore Land Acquisition Nod

Funding will underpin surveys and planning through a ₹12,000 crore HUDCO loan, despite farmers’ protests, finance officials’ fiscal warnings

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Shaktipeeth Highway Project of Maharashtra Government | Image: representative
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Overview

  • The Cabinet approved ₹20,787 crore for planning and land acquisition of the 802-km Nagpur-Goa Shaktipeeth Expressway
  • Once completed, the corridor will link 12 districts from Pavnar in Wardha to Patradevi in Sindhudurg and cut Nagpur-Goa travel time from 18 hours to eight hours
  • MSRDC will implement the expressway with a ₹12,000 crore HUDCO loan to acquire nearly 7,500 hectares of farmland
  • Ongoing resistance from farmers in Kolhapur and Sangli has led to partial realignments and calls for further stakeholder consultations
  • The Finance Department cautioned that off-budget borrowing for the project could worsen Maharashtra’s already rising debt and interest burden