The Chief Minister's Office of Maharashtra announced on 18 July 2026 that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari jointly performed the bhoomipujan (ground-breaking ceremony) for three elevated highway projects in Pune, marking a significant push to ease the city's chronic traffic congestion.

What was inaugurated

The ceremony, held at 3:10 PM on 18 July 2026 in Pune, covered the ground-breaking of three distinct elevated corridors: the Pune–Shirur Elevated Expressway, the Talegaon–Chakan–Shikrapur Elevated Highway, and the Hadapsar–Yavat Elevated Highway. The CMO described the occasion as 'Bhoomipujan Pragatiparvache' — 'a ground-breaking that marks progress.'

Senior political figures joined the ceremony, including Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Ajit Pawar, Minister Chandrakant Patil, Minister ShivendraSinh Raje Bhonsle, Minister of State Madhuri Misal, MP Shrirang Appa Barne, and Pune Mayor Manjusha Nagpure.

Context

Pune is one of Maharashtra's fastest-growing urban centres, functioning as a hub for the IT, manufacturing, and logistics sectors. Rapid population growth and expanding industrial zones — particularly along the Chakan and Talegaon corridors — have placed severe strain on the city's existing road network.

Elevated highways are designed to separate high-speed inter-city traffic from local movement, reducing bottlenecks at grade-level intersections. The Hadapsar–Yavat stretch addresses the city's southeastern fringe, which has seen dense residential and industrial growth.

Policy backdrop

The projects align with the Central government's Bharatmala Pariyojana, launched in 2015, which identified elevated and expressway corridors around Pune as part of its Phase-I national highway development network. Maharashtra's own State Highway Development Programme (2018) further prioritised multi-level grade separators and elevated roads within the Pune Metropolitan Region.

Central–state coordination on highway projects has accelerated since 2019 under expanded Bharatmala funding and state co-financing arrangements. Gadkari's ministry has been the primary driver of expressway construction across Maharashtra, with the state contributing land acquisition and local approvals.

Stakeholders and impact

Daily commuters between Pune and satellite towns such as Shirur, Chakan, Shikrapur, and Yavat stand to benefit most directly, as elevated corridors are expected to reduce travel time and improve road safety. Logistics operators serving the Chakan Industrial Area — one of Maharashtra's largest auto-manufacturing clusters — have long sought better connectivity to national highway networks.

Local businesses along the proposed alignments, as well as residents in peri-urban zones, will be key stakeholders in land acquisition and resettlement processes that typically precede construction.

What's next

Following a bhoomipujan, the standard procedural pipeline includes the release of detailed project reports, land acquisition notifications under the relevant land laws, and environmental clearances from the concerned authorities. These steps are expected to unfold over the coming months as the projects move from ceremonial launch to active implementation.

The three corridors, taken together, represent Maharashtra's continued bet on elevated infrastructure as the primary tool for managing urban-fringe traffic — a model the state has applied in Mumbai and Nagpur and is now extending to Pune.