India, March 12 -- Upset with the Mahayuti government's decision to go ahead with the proposed Shaktipeeth Expressway between Nagpur and Goa, contrary to an assurance given before the Assembly elections that the project will not be imposed upon them, farmers from 12 districts of the state will hold a protest in the city at Azad Maidan on March 12.

The 802-km expressway was announced in March 2023 by the then Finance Minister Devendra Fadnavis during the Mahayuti government's first budget presentation. With an estimated cost of Rs.83,600 crore, the expressway will pass through 12 districts across Vidarbha, Marathwada and western Maharashtra.

Since then, the farmers of these districts have been opposing the project, refusing to give their...