The Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway, or Samruddhi Mahamarg (officially known as Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg) and Maharashtra Expressway-2 (ME-2), is an existing operational 6-lane wide (expandable to 8), 701-km long access-controlled expressway in the Maharashtra state of India, connecting the Maharashtra's two capital cities, Mumbai in the Marathwada region in the west and Nagpur in the Vidarbha region in the east. By reducing Nagpur-Mumbai travel time to 8 hours, the expressway has boosted the economic development by providing the enhanced connectivity.
This project was the brainchild of Devendra Fadnavis and was conceptualised by him when he was the chief minister of the state back in 2015. It is being led by the state infrastructure arm Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), and is designed under the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) model.
In May 2016, five design consultants were appointed for making Detailed Project Report (DPR) and after Request for Qualification (RfQ) bids opened for civil works in Jan 2017, the land acquisition process started in July 2017. In May 2018, MSRDC opened financial bids submitted by qualified contractors. and road construction started after contract for all 16 packages were awarded by MSRDC to 13 contractors in January 2019. In 2021, work on 7.78 km long Igatpuri tunnel was completed. In December 2022, the Nagpur-Shirdi first phase of the expressway inaugurated and opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 11 December. In May 2023-24, phase-2 Shirdi-Igatpuri was operationalised.
In June 2025, the whole Nagpur-Mumbai main route became operational after being inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The total project cost, including the land acquisition cost, is around . It is among the country's longest greenfield road projects.
To expedite the pre-construction work on the expressway, MSRDC decided to divide the design work into 5 packages and hired a separate consultancy firm to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for each package, On 31 May 2017, the Government of Maharashtra incorporated <nowiki/>'Nagpur Mumbai Super Communication Expressway Limited<nowiki/>', a special purpose vehicle (SPV), to manage the financial requirement for the construction and operation of this project.
The construction work of the 701 km long MumbaiâÂÂNagpur Expressway is divided into 16 packages, with work awarded to 13 different contractors, including Afcons Infrastructure, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), and Reliance Infrastructure.
As of 31 May 2021, out of the total 1699 structures, including flyovers, viaducts, major and minor bridges, tunnels, interchanges, etc., construction of 1286 structures has already been completed, and the construction of 253 structures is inching towards completion. A total of 6 tunnels will be built along the expressway, and the construction for all of the tunnels is underway in full swing.
The Government of Maharashtra has authorized MSRDC to act as the New Town Development Authority to venture into the long-term development of 19 new towns. at strategic nodes, which is also coined as 'Krushi Samruddhi Nagar.' The provisions are enacted under sub-section (1) and section 113 of the MR & TP Act, 1966. The developmental objective to propose these new towns is to encourage the self-employment potential of the regional population through their primitive occupation, i.e., agriculture or agro-related businesses.
Every township developed under the initiative of Krushi Samruddhi Nagar will be built on a land area of approximately 1000-1500 hectares. The new towns shall serve as the utility economic nodes for food processing industry, integrated logistics, and domestic food markets, along with education centers, skill development institutes, healthcare facilities, and commercial and residential housings. The new townships will offer huge industrial land-banks with a focus on dedicated export-oriented infrastructure and integrated logistics to ease the supply chain with enhanced road connectivity for domestic markets.
The 19 new towns will be developed at strategic intersections, at a distance of 30 to 40 km from each other. These towns will be developed in two phases; phase one includes seven townships, while the remaining eleven townships will be developed in phase two. The new towns will encompass essential facilities including schools, Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), skill development centers, institutes providing technical education and amp, higher education, hospitals, police stations, playgrounds, open spaces, parks, and sports complexes. The new townships will be easily accessible from main roads, feeder roads, national or state highways intersecting the Samruddhi Expressway through the public transport system. The MSRDC adopted land pooling model for land acquisition, wherein 30 percent of the total land acquired under 'Krushi Samruddhi Kendra' program will be returned to landowners. The farmers will also receive compensation of Rs 50,000 per hectare for non-irrigated land and Rs 1 lakh every year for irrigated land for the next 10 years. Based on the suggestions from Wildlife Institute of India (WII), wildlife mitigation measures are planned and necessary structures like cattle underpasses are being built for uninterrupted wildlife movement. Around 320 private communicators were trained and deployed by MSRDC for land acquisition negotiations with prospecting landowners.
The MumbaiâÂÂNagpur Expressway will travel through 10 key districts directly and 14 districts indirectly via feeder roads, 24 talukas, and 392 villages. The 10 main districts are Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Washim, Buldhana, Jalna, Aurangabad, Nashik, Ahmednagar, and Thane. The other 14 districts include Chandrapur, Bhandara, Gondia, Gadchiroli, Yavatmal, Akola, Hingoli, Parbhani, Nanded, Beed, Dhule, Jalgaon, Palghar, and Raigad. Yavatmal City is going to connect with Four Lane road to the Samruddhi Expressway and Amravati too. Four Lane Road will be constructed between Yavatmal City and Badnera.
Below are the lists of cities/towns through which the MumbaiâÂÂNagpur Expressway will connect:
To create a fast logistics gateway for national and international trade, the expressway will connect the country's largest container port, JNPT in Mumbai to Mihan in Nagpur. The expressway will allow access to several industrial and economic corridors through 24 interchanges at strategic locations. It will widely connect the DelhiâÂÂMumbai Industrial Corridor, BengaluruâÂÂChennai Economic Corridor, Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, ChennaiâÂÂVizag Economic Corridor, and Golden Quadrilateral. Apart from JNPT, other seaports including Kandla MBPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Ennore will also have indirect connectivity.
The following will either connect or act as an alternative to the MumbaiâÂÂNagpur Expressway: