The Chief Minister's Office of Maharashtra announced on 10 July 2026 that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis chaired a high-level meeting at Vidhan Bhavan, Mumbai, to address the grievances of farmers displaced by the proposed Nashik Ring Road project, directing that all land-acquisition disputes be resolved on priority before construction proceeds.

Context

The meeting was convened specifically to hear complaints from project-affected farmers across villages along the proposed ring-road alignment. CM Fadnavis issued clear instructions: 'शेतकऱ्यांचे प्रश्न प्राधान्याने सोडवत रिंग रोडचे काम पूर्ण करावे' ('Complete the Ring Road work only after resolving farmers' issues on priority'). The directive signals that the government will not allow construction timelines to override compensation grievances.

A key order issued at the meeting concerns the zoning-based compensation formula. Fadnavis directed that whichever zone's sale deed (kharidekhat) was registered in a village before land acquisition, that zone's rate must apply to the entire village — preventing selective downgrading of compensation.

Policy Backdrop

The Nashik Ring Road is being fast-tracked primarily to handle the massive pilgrim influx expected during the Simhastha Kumbh Mela in Nashik, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world. Maharashtra has pursued similar circumferential road projects in cities such as Pune and Nagpur to ease urban congestion and support religious tourism, with land-acquisition disputes being a recurring flashpoint in each case.

State land-acquisition policy draws on the central Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and subsequent Maharashtra amendments, which distinguish between irrigated (bagayati) and non-irrigated (jirayati) land rates. Fadnavis directed that wherever irrigated farmland was wrongly compensated at non-irrigated rates, the correct higher rate must be applied immediately.

The CM also ordered that where the alignment of a National Highway and the Ring Road overlap, only a single road should be retained to minimise land acquisition. He further directed that Nagar Panchayats in the state be treated as 'urban bodies' for the purpose of applying multiplication factors (gunank) while calculating compensation — a move that could significantly raise payouts for farmers in peri-urban villages.

Stakeholders and Impact

Farmers in villages along the Nashik Ring Road corridor stand to benefit directly from the revised compensation framework. The government acknowledged receiving multiple complaints about irregular land purchase and sale transactions near the Ring Road alignment, and Fadnavis ordered a formal inquiry into all such cases, stating the government takes these irregularities seriously.

He also directed that existing roads that are widened as part of the project must trigger fresh land acquisition and compensation for the additional land taken from farmers — ensuring no incremental land loss goes uncompensated. Ministers Chandrashekar Bawankule, Girish Mahajan, Shivendra Sinharaje Bhosale, and Narhari Zirwal, along with several MLAs and senior officials, were present at the meeting.

What's Next

The Chief Minister's directives now require the state machinery to issue revised compensation notifications, conclude pending land-acquisition proceedings, and submit an inquiry report on alleged irregular transactions — all with an eye on meeting the infrastructure deadline tied to the Simhastha Kumbh Mela in Nashik. The pace of final land-acquisition notifications and cabinet approvals for revised rates will be the key indicators to watch in the coming weeks.

With a major religious event anchoring the deadline, the Fadnavis government faces the dual pressure of delivering infrastructure on time while demonstrating that farmer welfare is not a casualty of that urgency.