Samruddhi Expressway hasn't benefited us so far, say Maharashtra farmers

MUMBAI: When a mega infrastructure project opens to the public before elections, it generally becomes a talking point in the election campaign and among voters. But a tour of Lok Sabha constituencies along the ambitious Samruddhi Expressway project in Vidarbha and Marathwada proved otherwise.

The expressway—touted as the dream project of deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and a game-changer for the region— was inaugurated with much fanfare by PM Narendra Modi in December 2022. But farmers and businesspersons along the expressway whom HT spoke to said that it was by no means a life-changing project and thus no state BJP leaders had made it the focus of their campaign. “It will take some years for Vidarbha and Marathwada to reap its benefits, as it has yet to connect to Mumbai and ports,” they said. “The promise of prosperity will take a few years.”

The BJP-led state government under Fadnavis had aimed to connect the Vidarbha and Marathwada regions to Mumbai and Nashik through Samruddhi in order to transform the agriculture-based economy in the region besides promoting the manufacturing and service sectors. Several hubs for agro-based industries and other sectors were planned along the greenfield project.

The first phase of the project was opened to the public in December 2022 by Modi, and later CM Shinde opened another phase from Shirdi to Igatpuri. The work on the Igatpuri-Thane route is in progress and is expected to be done by December 2024.

In various areas connected with Samruddhi like Dhamangaon railway in Amravati, Karanja Lad in Washim, Mehkar in Buldhana and Sambhaji Nagar, the mood about the expressway was lacklustre. According to Rajkumar Pasari, a farmer owning 15 acres of land in Dhamangaon, neither farmers nor businessmen have benefited from the expressway. “Vidarbha farmers grow mainly non-perishable crops like cotton, soyabean and pulses,” he pointed out. “An expressway is not needed to transport these; it would be useful for perishable produce like vegetables and fruit. But farmers here cannot cultivate the latter in large quantities, as there is no supporting eco-system for production and transportation. Thus, we grow vegetables and fruit in small quantities with an eye on local markets. The furthest we can go is to Nagpur and nearby markets.”

Nitin Dagadkar, another farmer from Parulgavhan with 54 acres of land, also emphasised that the expressway was not “life-changing”. “It has not changed anything in the last one year,” he said. “Its limited use so far is for private vehicles and passenger transport, as it has reduced the travelling time to Nagpur and Sambhaji Nagar. So it is not a talking point in the election campaign. It may benefit us in the future but I am not sure how many years this will take.”

Dagadkar said he preferred the Nagpur market as it was close to Amravati, and did not use Samruddhi for transporting his agricultural goods, as an alternative Amravati-Nagpur highway at one-third the toll was available to farmers. “Farmers in our region cannot compete in the Mumbai market with the fruit and vegetable producers in the Nashik-Pune belt, as they already have a good eco-system,” he said. “The government’s departments like agriculture and industries will have to work hard to develop us an ecosystem to cultivate cash crops like vegetables and fruits.”

Shyam Sawai, a farmer from Karanja Lad in Washim district, said that Vidarbha farmers were not prepared or equipped to reap the benefits of Samruddhi for the next three to four years. “We don’t have the capacity to book 100-tonne containers,” he said. “For that, farmers’ groups and farm producer companies are needed. Such an eco-system has not developed in the region, and in the absence of this, it may take 10 more years for the expressway to benefit common farmers.” Sawai also suggested that the state government use the areas near the toll plazas to start courier services for vegetables and fruit.

Ishwar Bodke, a farmer from Mehekar in Buldhana district, is a beneficiary of the expressway, as three acres of his 18-acre farmland were acquired for the project. He received a price of ₹1.70 crore. “Farmers who gave their land for the project got a good compensation package,” he said. “Another effect of this is that the price of farmland has gone up from an average ₹15 lakh per acre to ₹60 lakh. If a farmer needs money tomorrow, he will have to sell less land due to the huge hike in land prices. But as far as the use of Samruddhi for the transportation of farm produce is concerned, as of now farmers have not benefited. I believe the government is planning to develop some townships and agriculture-processing units. But that will take many years.”

Sambhaji Nagar is the largest industrial area on the border of the expressway. As of now, however, industrialists are waiting for the connectivity to Mumbai and its ports. Ram Bhogale, a veteran industrialist whose company manufactures and exports auto components, said that the limited use of the expressway was for travellers’ time-saving. “The real benefit of Samruddhi Sambhaji Nagar, Marathwada and Vidarbha industries will only begin once the connector to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and Mumbai is complete by December 2025.”

Dushyant Patil, President of the Chamber of Marathwada Industries & Agriculture, said that industries in Sambhaji Nagar like auto, FMCG and capital goods at present exported their products to around 27 countries all over the world. “The boost will come when Samruddhi connects to JNPT,” he said, adding that the government needed to also look into the road quality, which was uneven. “Also, to deliver the benefits of the expressway to farmers, the development of agricultural nodes with processing units is the first step.”