The Hinduhriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackrey (HSBT) Samruddhi Expressway would be extended up to Rajura in the Chandrapur district, according to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
The project will increase the 701-kilometer motorway between Nagpur and Mumbai by 165 km.
Sudhir Mungantiwar, the guardian of Chandrapur and the minister for the forest, had raised the issue of extending the Samruddhi Expressway up to Rajura in the Naxal-infested district of Chandrapur. In Rajura, where a green field airport is being built, he asserted that expanding the highway would aid in the transportation of minerals, the manufacturing of cement factories, paper products, ornaments made at ordnance plants, etc.
Additionally, it will increase tourism because Chandrapur is home to the renowned Tadoba Andheri Tiger Reserve, which attracts thousands of visitors each year. On December 23, 2022, Shinde and the minister met to talk about extending the motorway.
In addition, he gave the CM a statement outlining the benefits of extending the highway, saying, “I had already met the CM with demand on July 6, 2022. According to Mungantiwar, he gave in to the request for the motorway to be extended and instructed the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited (MSRDCL) in accordance.
The public works department (PWD) received a letter from Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Expressway Ltd (NMSCEL), a special purpose vehicle for the HSBT Samruddhi Expressway, claiming the extension of the motorway from Nagpur to Chandrapur- Rajura requires Rs 20 crore for the preparation of a detailed project report and necessary land acquisition. This claim was made based on the CM’s directives. For this aim, NMSCEL had asked PWD to give the MSRDCL the necessary grants.
The CM provided instructions to PWD to promptly approve the related report and provide the required funding to accelerate further processing of the report for the extension of the motorway up to Rajura via Chandrapur after a recent discussion over the extension of the highway with Mungantiwar.
The road from Nagpur would eventually be extended to Gondia and Gadchiroli, according to plans. The task of creating a full project report has been delegated to a consultant, and MSRDCL is currently working on it.
