Know All About Maharashtra’s Shaktipeeth Expressway: New Route Explained
Know All About Maharashtra’s Shaktipeeth Expressway: New Route Explained
Mumbai, April 2, 2026: Following strong opposition from farmers, the Maharashtra government has decided to significantly revise the blueprint of the ambitious Shaktipeeth Expressway project. The updated plan aims to address concerns raised during the land acquisition process while expanding the scope of the project.
Originally approved in February 2024, the expressway was planned as an 802-kilometre corridor connecting regions such as Vidarbha, Marathwada, and western Maharashtra, with access to the Goa border via the Konkan region. However, protests especially in Kolhapur and Sangli districts prompted the government to reconsider the alignment.
Under the revised proposal, the expressway will now stretch approximately 856.76 kilometres. It will begin at Digras in Wardha district and extend to Banda in Sindhudurg district. While the original routes through Wardha, Yavatmal, Beed, and Latur will remain unchanged, modifications have been introduced in districts including Nanded, Hingoli, Parbhani, Dharashiv, Solapur, Sangli, Kolhapur, and Sindhudurg. Satara district has also been included in the project.
The updated alignment will pass through around 40 talukas across 13 districts and is designed to improve connectivity to 21 major religious destinations. These include prominent pilgrimage sites such as Mahur, Tuljapur, Kolhapur, Aundha Nagnath, Parli Vaijnath, Pandharpur, and Ganagapur, among others.
One of the key benefits of the project is expected to be a major reduction in travel time. The journey between Nagpur and Goa, which currently takes around 18 hours, could be reduced to nearly 8 hours once the expressway is completed. This is likely to boost religious tourism, improve transport efficiency, and support economic activity across regions.
In response to earlier protests, the government had temporarily halted land acquisition in several talukas of Kolhapur district. With the revised plan now in place, efforts are underway to minimize resistance and move the project forward at the earliest.
