Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has outlined an ambitious agenda spanning infrastructure, transport and governance, as he replied to the concluding debate on the final day of the winter session of the state legislature. He said the government is focused on accelerating development, strengthening law enforcement and improving overall quality of life.

A key announcement was the proposed Jankalyan Expressway, a 450 km access-controlled corridor linking Mumbai and Hyderabad via Kalyan and Latur. Estimated to cost around Rs 360 billion, the project is expected to reduce the current Mumbai–Hyderabad distance by nearly 180 km and cut travel time between Mumbai and Latur to about four-and-a-half hours. The expressway will pass through Thane, Pune, Ahilyanagar, Beed and Latur districts, significantly improving regional connectivity.

Urban transport expansion also featured prominently. Fadnavis said Mumbai’s Metro network, which currently spans 91 km and carries around 0.95 million passengers daily, will be expanded to 132 km within the next two years. He added that at least 50 km of new Metro lines are planned to be commissioned every year. Pune and Nagpur already have 33 km and 40 km of operational Metro corridors, respectively.

The Chief Minister also highlighted a series of major road, tunnel and coastal infrastructure projects across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. These include a parallel expressway to the Mumbai–Pune corridor, the Orange Gate–Marine Drive tunnel, coastal road extensions from Versova to Uttan and Virar, the Thane–Borivli and Goregaon–Mulund tunnels, the Panvel coastal road near the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport, an Atal Setu interchange, the Pune ring road and several long-pending missing-link projects.

Beyond transport, Fadnavis announced the development of ‘Navin Nagpur’, a new central business district spread across 1,710 hectares. Modelled on Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex and Pune’s Hinjewadi, the project is expected to generate more than 500,000 jobs. He also revealed plans for a modern aviation training centre in Amravati, to be developed with support from Air India, featuring 34 trainer aircraft and 14 Piper aircraft.