December 15, 2025: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Friday unveiled a slate of major highway projects for Maharashtra, including a second Mumbai–Pune Expressway, a new Pune–Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar greenfield corridor, and a large funding push for road infrastructure in Pune district. The announcements were made during a media interaction at the Vidhan Bhavan in Nagpur.
Gadkari said a 130-km expressway, running parallel to the existing Mumbai–Pune Expressway, will be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 15,000 crore. The new corridor will connect the Atal Setu near JNPA to Shivare Junction in Pune. “The first phase, from Pagote (near JNPA) to Chowk (Panvel), has already been approved. Once completed, the Pune-Mumbai journey will take just one-and-a-half hours, while the Pune-Mumbai-Bengaluru journey can be covered in five-and-a-half hours,” Gadkari said. He described the current Mumbai–Pune Expressway, operational since 2002, as a milestone project that transformed regional connectivity.
The minister also announced a Pune–Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar greenfield expressway, estimated to cost Rs 16,318 crore. The project is expected to reduce travel time between the two cities to around two hours. The first phase will run via Pune–Ahilyanagar–Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, while a second alignment from Shikrapur will bypass Ahilyanagar and pass through Beed district. Gadkari added that the route would also enable travel between Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Nagpur in about two-and-a-half to three hours.
Highlighting the scale of investment, Gadkari said, “Road development work worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore has been approved across the state for the coming year. Of this, projects worth nearly Rs 50,000 crore have been approved for Pune district alone, all of which are expected to begin within the next three months.”
Among key Pune projects is the Talegaon–Chakan–Shikrapur elevated corridor, a four-tier structure with a metro line, estimated at Rs 4,207 crore. The tender process has been completed and the foundation stone will be laid soon. Collectively, the projects are expected to ease congestion, cut travel time, and support economic growth across western and central Maharashtra.
