The time taken to reach Pune from Nagpur will drastically reduce once the proposed highway between Aurangabad and the city is developed. Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the work on the highway will start soon. He also said that 6 express highways are being built in Maharashtra.
The Union Minister said that the time of travel from Nagpur to Pune, at a distance of around 720 kms, will be reduced to just 6 hours with the planned expressway connectivity.
“Under the leadership of the PM, we are building a highway from Aurangabad to Pune and soon its work will start, so that we can reach Pune from Nagpur in just 6 hours. We are also building 6 express highways in Maharashtra,” Gadkari said in Nagpur, Maharashtra on Saturday.
An access-controlled expressway will be made at a cost of Rs 10,000 crore between Aurangabad and Pune which are located at a distance of around 225 kms. Earlier this year, Union Minister Gadkari shared that this expressway will have no turns and vehicles will be able to commute at speeds of up to 140 kms per hour. The travel time between Aurangabad and Pune will reduce to 1.15 hours from the current 4-5 hours, he had added.
The access-controlled Aurangabad-Pune green expressway will connect Pune to the 701 km Hinduhriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray Samruddhi Mahamarg. Gadkari had revealed that the proposed alignment of the expressway has a length of 268 kms, which includes a ring road around Pune city covering 39 kms, a 20 km spur (12 kms to Ranjangaon and 8 kms to Bidkin-Shendra).
Maharashtra is witnessing massive infrastructure development with several rail and road projects. PM Modi on Sunday inaugurated Phase-1 of one of India’s longest expressways, the Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Expressway. Dubbed Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, the expressway will cover a distance of 701 km.
Phase-1 will cover 530 kms and connect Nagpur and Shirdi. The expressway is being built at a cost of Rs 55,000 crore. It will pass through 10 districts of Maharashtra and connect major urban regions of Aurangabad, Nashik and Amravati. Its impact will improve the road connectivity in 14 other districts. The Samruddhi Mahamarg will also connect to the Delhi Mumbai Expressway under the ‘PM Gati Shakti’ initiative, as well as tourist spots like Ajanta Ellora Caves, Shirdi, Verul, Lonar and also the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust.
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