With expressways coming up across the state, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) will now also be recognised for solar energy generation. A solar energy project at Karjalad in Washim and at the Mehkar Interchange in Buldhana district on the Hindu Hridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Highway has been commissioned. With this, the Samruddhi Highway has become the country’s first pilot project in solar energy generation.

According to MSRDC officials, more than 2.5 crore vehicles have travelled on the 701-km-long expressway connecting Nagpur and Mumbai. The corporation had set the goal of generating solar energy alongside enabling fast travel since the planning stage of the Samruddhi Highway. A plan has also been finalised to implement a 204 MW (megawatt) solar power project at various interchanges of the highway, and steps are being taken towards that end.