Chennai-Surat Expressway Shortened to Nashik: New 900 Km Route Revealed

• The Chennai-Surat National Highway, originally 1271 km, has been curtailed to 900 km and will now end at Nashik instead of Surat.
• The change was necessitated by major constraints in land acquisition between Surat and Nashik, and delays in environmental approvals.
• The original project, estimated at Rs 50,000 crore, aimed to connect Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu.
• Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) will develop a new greenfield expressway to cover the Surat-Nashik traffic mobility gap.
• The six-lane, access-controlled expressway aims to improve long-distance travel and interstate mobility with speeds up to 120 kmph.

Why It Matters: Chennai-Surat Expressway shortened to 900 km, now Chennai-Nashik, due to land acquisition issues.