The Union Cabinet, in a significant move to boost national connectivity, has given its green signal to two major highway projects with a combined outlay of Rs 20,668 crore. The approval, granted on Wednesday, December 31, 2025, covers the construction of a new 6-lane high-speed corridor between Nashik and Solapur in Maharashtra and the widening of a crucial highway in Odisha.
Nashik-Solapur Corridor: A Game-Changer for West-South Connectivity
The flagship project is the 374-km Nashik-Solapur (Akkalkot) high-speed corridor, which forms a critical segment of the larger Surat-Chennai high-speed corridor. This ambitious infrastructure piece is designed to seamlessly link western India with the southern states. The project will be developed on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis, a public-private partnership (PPP) model expected to attract substantial private investment. With an estimated cost of Rs 19,142 crore, it is poised to become the largest value BOT project undertaken in the highway sector.
The corridor will pass through the districts of Nashik, Ahilyanagar, Dharashiv, and Solapur and is slated for completion within two years. Officials from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) highlight that the new alignment will cut the distance between Nashik and Solapur by 14 percent, from 432 km to 374 km. More importantly, it will allow vehicles to travel at an average speed of 100 kmph, a major jump from the current 60 kmph.
The ripple effect of this project is monumental for pan-India travel. Upon completion of the entire Surat-Chennai corridor, the travel time between these two major port cities is projected to be nearly halved—reducing from 31 hours to just 17 hours, a 45 percent reduction.
Strategic Integration and Economic Impact
The greenfield corridor is designed for strategic integration with other major expressways. It will connect to the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway near the Vadhawan port interchange, the Agra-Mumbai corridor at Nashik, and the Samruddhi Mahamarg at Pangri near Nashik. This will create a seamless through-connectivity from the west coast to the east coast of India.
The Ministry emphasized that the Nashik-Akkalkot link will be vital for freight movement, particularly serving the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC) nodes at Kopparthy and Orvakal. Furthermore, the Nashik-Talegaon Dighe section will fulfill the requirement for the proposed Pune-Nashik Expressway, a project identified by NICDC and being pursued by the Maharashtra government.
Upgrading NH-326 in Odisha: Enhancing Safety and Throughput
The second project approved by the Cabinet focuses on rectifying infrastructure deficiencies in southern Odisha. It involves the widening and strengthening of a 206-km stretch of NH-326 in the districts of Gajapati, Rayagada, and Koraput. This project, with a budget of Rs 1,526 crore, will be executed in Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) mode.
The existing Mohana-Koraput section suffers from sub-standard geometry, featuring an intermediate lane, narrow 2-lane sections, deficient curves, and steep gradients. These shortcomings severely hinder vehicle movement, create unsafe conditions, and reduce the efficiency of freight movement to coastal ports and industrial centers.
The upgrade will transform the highway into a proper 2-lane road with paved shoulders. The work will include crucial geometric corrections such as curve realignments, gradient improvements, and the removal of accident black spots. This overhaul is expected to facilitate smoother, safer, and faster vehicular movement in the region.
The Cabinet's dual approval underscores the government's focused approach to enhancing both high-speed, long-distance connectivity and improving the quality and safety of existing highway networks in economically crucial regions.
