3 min readMumbaiMar 3, 2025 03:05 PM IST
First published on: Mar 3, 2025 at 02:45 PM IST
Amid growing opposition by farmers to the proposed Nagpur-Goa Shaktipeeth expressway, Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan Monday announced the state government will undertake the construction of the 802-kilometre greenfield project at an estimated cost of Rs 86,300 crore.
The Nagpur-Goa Shaktipeeth expressway project is being opposed especially by farmers in the sugar belt of Western Maharashtra, who have said they would lose their land. The opposing farmers have planned a protest rally in the second week of March in Mumbai.
In his speech to the joint session of the first day of the Maharashtra Assembly Budget Session, Governor Radhakrishnan said, “This expressway will be completed after taking all persons into confidence. This expressway will connect major religious and pilgrimage sites along the route. This expressway will not only reduce travel time but also foster economic growth in the region”.
The Shaktipeeth highway proposes to connect Pavnar in the Wardha district to Patradevithe in the Sindhudurg district. It will pass through 11 districts of Wardha, Yavatmal, Hingoli, Nanded, Parbhani, Latur, Beed, Dharashiv, Solapur, Kolhapur, and Sindhudurg.
Radhakrishnan said the government has decided to construct 7,480 km long roads with cement concretisation under various schemes of the Public Works Department (PWD) to enhance road durability, improve connectivity, and ensure safer and more efficient transportation across the state.
With his speech’s focus on Industry, infrastructure, and health sector, Radhakrishnan said the government has planned to disburse the Investment Promotion Subsidy of about Rs 5,000 crore to different industries in the State to attract investments, foster industrial growth and generate employment opportunities. “My government through Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation has decided to allot industrial plots of approximately 3,500 acres to support and encourage the industrialisation in the State. Recognising the growing demand for industrial land, my government has decided to notify 10,000 acres of land for industrial purposes,” he said.
The Maharashtra Governor also announced that the government has decided to develop 10 Integrated Industrial Parks and Integrated Logistics Parks. “At the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2025, my Government signed memorandums of understanding worth approximately Rs 15.72 lakh crore of investment with 63 national and international companies. This will generate more than 15 lakh employment opportunities in the State,” he said.
Radhakrishnan said the government has decided to establish a company, “Consortia For Health, Applied Knowledge and Research Autonomy”, to make Maharashtra a hub for medical research and innovation and to address public health challenges through advanced research and education. “Maharashtra Post Graduate Institute for Education and Research under the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik will work as Hub whereas, seven other Government Medical Colleges will function as spokes for the above research purpose,” he said.
He also said the government has started seven health missions — blood donation drive, organ donation, cancer awareness and treatment, obesity awareness and treatment, Mission Thyroid, cataract-preventable blindness, and oral health — across the state. “Approximately 1 lakh beneficiaries will be covered till March 2025 under these special missions,” he said.
Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan being welcomed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as he arrives for the Budget session of the state Assembly, at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai. (Express Photo By Ganesh Shirsekar) 
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