Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday, 20 July 2026, chaired a meeting of the Apex Committee at Sahyadri Guest House, Mumbai, approving revised development plans worth ₹115 crore for three pilgrimage centres across the state.

Context

The approved outlay covers three distinct sites: ₹48.55 crore for Sant Janabai Teerth Kshetra at Gangakhed in Parbhani district, ₹25 crore for Sant Shri Gadgebaba Samadhi Sthal at Amravati, and ₹41.75 crore for the Shri Chakradhar Swami Temple premises at Katol in Nagpur district. Fadnavis directed that all works under these master plans be executed in phases, to the highest quality standards, and completed within stipulated timeframes — with particular attention to the surge in footfall during festival periods.

The Chief Minister emphasised that holistic development of pilgrimage centres must preserve spiritual heritage while simultaneously promoting religious tourism. He also instructed that upgraded facilities translate into tangible economic benefits for surrounding communities through employment generation and enhanced tourism activity.

Policy Backdrop

The three sites carry deep roots in Maharashtra's religious and social history. Sant Janabai, the 13th-century Varkari saint whose memorial at Gangakhed draws annual Warkari processions, is among the most venerated figures in the Bhakti tradition. Gadge Baba, honoured at the Amravati Samadhi Sthal, was a prominent social reformer who championed sanitation and anti-caste causes through his itinerant preaching. The Katol temple is associated with Chakradhara, the founder of the Mahanubhava religious sect, one of Maharashtra's oldest organised devotional movements.

At the national level, the central government's PRASAD scheme — launched in 2014-15 — provides infrastructure funding for identified pilgrimage sites, establishing a policy framework that state governments have supplemented with their own budgetary allocations. Maharashtra's current initiative aligns with that broader architecture of heritage-linked tourism investment.

Stakeholders and Impact

The immediate beneficiaries are the millions of pilgrims who visit these three centres annually, who can expect improved crowd management infrastructure, sanitation facilities, and connectivity once the phased works are complete. Local economies around Gangakhed, Amravati, and Katol stand to gain from construction employment in the near term and sustained tourism revenue thereafter.

The meeting was attended by Minister of State Meghnatai Bordikar, Minister of State Ashish Jaiswal, MLA Charansingh Thakur, and senior government officials. BJP-led state governments in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have pursued comparable heritage-tourism circuits, signalling a wider pattern of integrating cultural conservation with rural economic development.

What's Next

With the revised plans approved, the focus shifts to phased tendering and quality audits at all three sites. The Chief Minister's directive on strict timelines and quality standards suggests that project monitoring mechanisms will be central to execution. Observers will watch whether additional pilgrimage centres are brought under revised state tourism budgets in subsequent Apex Committee meetings, as the government signals appetite for expanding this model of development.