Nagpur/Mumbai: The ambitious Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Mahamarg project, spearheaded by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde through the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), is now facing serious scrutiny after allegations of large-scale financial irregularities. Acting on a formal complaint and political pressure, the Principal Accountant General (PAG) of Maharashtra has directed the Accountant General (Audit) to initiate a probe into the alleged misappropriation of funds.
The directive, issued on June 9 by C M Sane, Principal Accountant General, follows a letter from Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Vijay Wadettiwar and a detailed complaint submitted by Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) MLA Rohit Pawar. The PAG’s office, responsible for auditing expenditure across 38 state government departments, has forwarded the matter to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.
Gold Rate
29 July 2025
The expressway — officially named Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg — has been under construction in 16 phases. Pawar’s complaint claims that several of these phases have seen cost escalations running into thousands of crores, suggesting potential embezzlement and inflated tender values.
Citing one such instance, the complaint highlights Phase 11 of the highway, stretching 29 km from Mouje Dhotre to Mouje Darle in Ahilyanagari. Initially awarded to Gayatri Projects Ltd. in 2018 for Rs 1,900 crore, the contract was reassigned in 2021 to Huzoor Multi Project after Gayatri expressed its inability to complete the work. The new contract was pegged at Rs 2,700 crore — a staggering increase of Rs 800 crore.
Further raising eyebrows, Pawar pointed out that Huzoor Multi Project has 1.52 crore shares, with 23 lakh reportedly held by a relative of a senior MSRDC official — hinting at a possible conflict of interest.
The complaint also flags the Jalna-Nanded stretch of the Samruddhi Mahamarg, where the tender amount ballooned from an initial Rs 11,442 crore to Rs 15,554 crore — an increase of over Rs 4,100 crore. Instead of a competitive reduction in cost through the bidding process, the final contract was allegedly awarded at an inflated value. The central vigilance team reportedly took cognizance of this anomaly and temporarily stalled the process.
Following the revelations, PAC Chairman Wadettiwar formally wrote to the PAG on May 28 seeking an immediate audit and submitted a separate letter to the Secretary of the Public Works Department demanding a detailed report.
As the audit gears up, all eyes will be on the outcome, which could have serious political ramifications in Maharashtra’s power corridors.
