The Union Cabinet on Wednesday, December 31, approved the construction of a 374-km six-lane greenfield Nashik-Solapur corridor in Maharashtra, involving
an investment of Rs 19,142 crore, aimed at boosting connectivity and regional growth. The project will be constructed on BOT (Toll) mode, PTI quoted an official statement. This project will provide connectivity to important regional cities such as Nashik, Ahilyanagar, Solapur connecting to Kurnool, it said. This infrastructure is a significant step to facilitate integrated transport infrastructure development under the PM Gatishakti National Master Plan principle, as per PTI. The greenfield corridor from Nashik to Akkalkot is proposed to be connected to the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway near Vadhawan port interchange, Agra-Mumbai corridor at Nashik at junction with NH-60 (Adegaon) and Samruddhi Mahamarg at Pangri (near Nashik). The statement said the proposed corridor will provide through connectivity from west coast to east coast. From the Chennai port end, 4-lane corridors are already in progress from Chennai to Hasapur (MH Border) via Thiruvallur, Renigunta, Kadappa, and Kurnool (700 km long), according to PTI. The primary purpose of the proposed access-controlled six-lane greenfield project corridor is to improve travel efficiency and is expected to reduce travel time by 17 hours and reduce the travel distance by 201 km. Nashik-Akkalkot (Solapur) connectivity will improve logistics efficiency for freight originating and terminating at major National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC) nodes of Kopparthy and Orvakal. The six-lane access-controlled greenfield corridor with close tolling, supporting average vehicular speeds of 60 km/hour with design speed of 100 km/hour. This will reduce the overall travel time to about 17 hours from 31 hours, while offering safer, faster, and uninterrupted connectivity for both passengers and freight vehicles, the statement said. According to the statement, the project will generate about 251.06 lakh man-days of direct employment and 313.83 lakh man-days of indirect employment. The project will also induce additional employment opportunities due to increase in economic activity in the vicinity of the proposed corridor, it said. (With PTI Inputs)
