"Ashamed" Of Delay, Nitin Gadkari Won't Attend Mumbai-Goa Expressway Event

Union minister Nitin Gadkari has given the clearest warning of no tolerance for delay in major infrastructure projects after seeing the snail's pace at which the Mumbai-Goa highway widening work has been going on.

To make good on his warning, the Union road transport and highways minister announced he would inspect the entire length of the Mumbai-Goa road work in October. In addition to that, Gadkari delivered a final message to contractors to fall in line: he would not attend the inauguration of the project.

"I had announced that I would not come for the inauguration of the Mumbai-Goa highway because I felt ashamed that it had been delayed so much," Gadkari said after opening a six-lane elevated road corridor at Porvorim near Goa's Panaji.

This highway passes through the coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra.

"I would land at the Mumbai airport in October and travel by road to Goa to personally inspect the highway and assess whether the journey has been made convenient for travellers," he said at the event where Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Union minister Shripad Naik, State Public Works Department Minister Digambar Kamat and Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte attended.

VIDEO | Porvorim: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) says that delay in Mumbai-Goa highway shameful, vows action against contractors. "Won't attend its inauguration," says Gadkari.

(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/d8jp61yd2p) pic.twitter.com/OnK6q8ZOag

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 10, 2026

Simultaneously, strict action against contractors and officials responsible for delays and shoddy work on infrastructure projects would continue, Gadkari said.

"Now I want to set a record of blacklisting the maximum number of contractors and taking action against them, as well as suspending officials, within a year. I am not going to stop doing this now," he said.

In April 2015, Gadkari had said the long-delayed Mumbai-Goa highway would likely be completed by June that year. The highway would give relief to daily and Konkan-bound commuters who have endured years of pothole-ridden roads.

Gadkari had cited legal disputes and internal conflicts over land acquisition as major reasons for the delay. Another challenge has been waterlogging in low-lying stretches, particularly during monsoon, which affected construction work and road usability. However, Gadkari had said these issues were limited in scope.

In March this year, he had pointed out that forest clearances have delayed work on some stretches of the highway. "There are a few portions where roads are incomplete because they pass through forest areas. We are taking clarifications first-hand and resolving these issues in coordination with the concerned authorities," the Union minister had said.