CM Fadnavis unveils Hadapsar-Yavat elevated highway plan
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
The Chief Minister's Office of Maharashtra on Saturday, 18 July 2026 shared detailed information about the Hadapsar-Yavat Elevated Highway Project, a major infrastructure initiative in the Pune Metropolitan Region that will span approximately 31.5 kilometres and integrate road, metro and airport connectivity.
Context
The post, shared by the Chief Minister's Office and tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, outlines a corridor that combines roughly 25 kilometres of elevated multilane highway with a 6-lane at-grade road over the remaining stretch. The announcement describes the project as a comprehensive connectivity solution for eastern Pune and its expanding hinterland.
In the original Marathi, the post states: 'हडपसर-यवत उन्नत महामार्ग प्रकल्पाची एकूण लांबी सुमारे 31.5 किमी असून' — meaning 'the total length of the Hadapsar-Yavat elevated highway project is approximately 31.5 km.' The corridor runs from Hadapsar, a dense urban node in eastern Pune, toward Yavat in Pune district.
Policy Backdrop
A distinctive feature of the project is a dedicated provision for a future Metro rail corridor extending to Uruli Kanchan, indicating that the infrastructure is being designed with multi-modal integration in mind from the outset. Pune Metro Phase-1 was sanctioned in 2018, and planners have long envisaged eastern extensions toward the Uruli Kanchan alignment.
The corridor is also designed to link with three major infrastructure nodes: the proposed Purandar International Airport — a long-planned greenfield aviation hub south of Pune intended to relieve congestion at Lohegaon airport — National Highway 65 (the Pune-Solapur corridor upgraded under the central government's Bharatmala programme), and the Pune Ring Road, an orbital highway under implementation to decongest city traffic. Maharashtra's infrastructure development plans for 2020-25 had prioritised exactly such elevated corridors and airport linkages in the Pune Metropolitan Region.
Stakeholders and Impact
The project directly benefits daily commuters between Hadapsar and the eastern Pune belt, as well as businesses in the rapidly urbanising corridor toward Yavat and Uruli Kanchan. The CMO post states that the highway will make travel 'faster, easier and safer' (प्रवास अधिक जलद, सुलभ आणि सुरक्षित), reflecting the stated objective of strengthening the overall transport system.
Future users of the Purandar International Airport, once operational, stand to benefit significantly from a grade-separated, high-speed road link connecting the airport to central Pune. Eastern Pune's industrial and logistics sector — already served by NH-65 — is expected to gain from reduced travel times and improved freight movement once the corridor is complete.
What's Next
The CMO's post promises 'detailed information' about the project, suggesting further official disclosures are imminent. Key milestones to watch include tender finalisation, land acquisition progress along the 31.5-km alignment, and formal integration agreements with the Purandar airport special purpose vehicle.
The Hadapsar-Yavat corridor fits a broader Maharashtra pattern of designing multi-modal infrastructure that ties elevated roads, ring roads, future metro lines and proposed airports into a single network — an approach that also aligns with central government schemes such as Bharatmala and UDAN that emphasise last-mile connectivity to new aviation hubs. How quickly the project moves from announcement to ground-breaking will be a test of the state's capacity to execute complex urban infrastructure in the Pune region.