Page 2 - Maharashtra

Payment delays, stricter policy cloud alcoholic beverage outlook

Payment delays in Telangana and Maharashtra's new MML policy are straining liquor makers' cash flows, disrupting IMFL sales, and forcing companies to rethink pricing and portfolios

Ajit Pawar attacks BJP, blames party for Pune's stalled civic development

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP head Ajit Pawar on Saturday accused the BJP's local leadership for "lack of development" in Pune and asked people in the state's second largest city to give his party a chance in the January 15 civic polls. Addressing a press conference here, Pawar said problems have increased despite the Pune Municipal Corporation having adequate resources. "Pune Municipal Corporation is one of the largest municipal corporations in the state. However, citizens have not received adequate civic amenities. Traffic problems still persist today. We (NCP) will continue to make every effort to ensure development across the municipal area," said Pawar, who is also guardian minister of the district. "As per the TomTom traffic survey, Pune has been ranked among the worst cities in the world for traffic congestion, standing at fourth position globally. In Pune, it takes about 33 minutes to cover a distance of just 10 km. Traffic congestion is seen at several places ..

Maharashtra govt waives stamp duty on farm, crop loans up to ₹2 lakh

The Maharashtra government has waived stamp duty on documents related to agricultural and crop loans of up to Rs 2 lakh to reduce the financial burden on farmers and simplify the loan process, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said on Saturday. "The decision was taken after it was noticed that farmers were facing an additional financial burden even while availing loans. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed that revenue laws and rules be made simpler and more people-friendly, and accordingly, this decision was taken," he said. The revenue and forest department issued a government gazette notification in this regard on January 1. The waiver has come into effect from that date. As per the notification, stamp duty will not be levied on legal documents required for loans up to Rs 2 lakh, including title deeds, deposits, mortgage and pledge papers, guarantee letters, mortgage deeds and loan agreements, according to Bawankule. Earlier, crop loans attracted stamp duty at t

Sadanand Date, 26/11 terror attack hero, takes charge as Maharashtra DGP

Senior IPS officer and 26/11 terror attack hero Sadanand Vasant Date on Saturday took charge as Director General of Maharashtra Police. He was heading the National Investigation Agency (NIA) till recently before being repatriated to his home cadre on the request of the Maharashtra government. The 1990-batch officer was appointed as DGP on December 31. Date, 59, accepted the charge from Rashmi Shukla, the first woman DGP of Maharashtra who retired on Saturday, at the state police headquarters here. He will have a tenure of two years as the head of the over 2 lakh-strong Maharashtra police force. Known as an upright officer, Date was serving in Mumbai as Additional Commissioner of Police (Central Region) when Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from Pakistan attacked multiple locations in the city on November 26, 2008. He led a police team that pinned down terrorists Ajmal Kasab and Abu Ismail on the rooftop of Cama Hospital in south Mumbai. Despite being severely injured by grenade splinter

BJP tells Ajit Pawar to introspect before levelling corruption allegations

Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan on Saturday said Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar should "introspect", after he alleged corruption and debt in the Pimpri Chinchwad civic body, which had been ruled by the BJP. If the Bharatiya Janata Party starts making allegations, it would create serious difficulties for him (Pawar), Chavan said, and advised the NCP chief to "introspect" before levelling allegations. The NCP, headed by Pawar, is an ally of the BJP in the ruling Mahayuti dispensation. Chavan was responding to Pawar's allegations that the civic body has been infested with corruption for the last nine years and has been pushed into debt over the same period. Notably, the Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporation was governed by the BJP from 2017 to 2022 and thereafter by a state-appointed administrator. The civic body is going to the polls on January 15, along with 28 other municipal corporations. "Ajit Pawar made this statement in the backdrop of the upcoming elections. Aji

Maha civic polls: 68 Mahayuti candidates elected unopposed, 44 from BJP

The BJP and its Mahayuti allies have won 68 seats unopposed in the Maharashtra civic polls, voting for which will be held on January 15. Across the state, as many as 68 candidates from the BJP and the Mahayuti have been elected unopposed, reflecting the party's growing strength in urban local bodies, BJP leader Keshav Upadhye said on Friday. This includes 44 of the BJP, with the highest number being from Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation in Thane district, followed by Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad, Panvel, Bhiwandi, Dhule, Jalgaon and Ahilyanagar. The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has seen 22 of its candidates getting elected unopposed, while the figure is two for Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party. BJP leaders attributed the trend to the popularity of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and what they described as the successful electoral strategy of state unit president Ravindra Chavan. These have helped the BJP emerge as a dominant force not only in municipal councils but also in .

BJP, Shiv Sena part ways for Pune civic polls after seat-sharing talks fail

Earlier, CM Devendra Fadnavis said BJP would contest all 29 civic bodies with Shiv Sena, but for Pune the party offered just 16 of 165 seats, a proposal rejected by Sena's local unit

Vaishnaw virtually sees breakthrough of bullet train tunnel in Maharashtra

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday virtually witnessed the final breakthrough of a 1.5-km-long mountain tunnel of the bullet train project in Maharashtra's Palghar district from Rail Bhawan in New Delhi. "This 1.5-km-long mountain tunnel is among the longest in Palghar district and is located between the Virar and Boisar bullet train stations. It is the second tunnel breakthrough in Maharashtra, as the first 5-km-long underground tunnel between Thane and BKC was completed in September 2025," a Railway Ministry press note said. The 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project, which passes through Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, is India's only high-speed rail project designed to operate bullet trains at a speed of 320 kmph, covering the entire distance in 2 hours and 17 minutes. The project is being executed with technical and financial assistance from the Japanese government.

BMC polls: Opposition alleges bias over rejection of nomination papers

The Opposition has accused election officials of showing a partisan attitude during the scrutiny of nomination papers for the upcoming Thane Municipal Corporation elections after the documents of a few candidates were rejected. Rajan Vichare of Shiv Sena (UBT), Avinash Jadhav of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Jitendra Awhad of NCP (SP) addressed the media on Wednesday night, targeting the returning officer in the Wagle Estate area. The Opposition leaders alleged that the returning officer showed bias in rejecting the nomination papers of Sena (UBT), MNS, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and independent candidates contesting from wards 16, 17 and 18. According to MNS and VBA leaders, the nominations of Shinde Sena candidates Ekta Bhoir and Shilpa Wagh were accepted despite alleged discrepancies. The Wagle Estate area is considered a stronghold of the ruling Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. These officials have become servants of the ruling party and they work

Cabinet clears ₹19,142-cr Nashik-Akkalkot highway corridor in Maharashtra

The Cabinet has approved a Rs 19,142-crore, six-lane greenfield Nashik-Akkalkot highway in Maharashtra under BOT mode, aimed at cutting travel time by 17 hours and distance by 201 km

Cabinet clears 6-lane Nashik-Akkalkot highway; NH-326 upgrade in Odisha

The Cabinet has cleared two major road projects, including a six-lane Nashik-Solapur-Akkalkot highway in Maharashtra and the widening of NH-326 in Odisha, with an estimated cost of ₹1,526.21 crore

Maharashtra allows eateries, bars to stay open till 5 am on New Year's Eve

In view of New Year's Eve celebrations across Maharashtra, the state government has permitted establishments like eateries, restaurants, hotels, orchestra bars and pubs to operate till 5 am on January 1, officials said on Wednesday. The home department issued a "permanent" order on Tuesday night, permitting extended hours to the entertainment and hospitality venues, an official said. This order will now remain in force for Christmas Eve (December 24 night), Christmas (December 25 night) and New Year's Eve (December 31 night) in the future, as hotel and restaurant associations make these requests every year. Many a time, approval gets delayed due to administrative paperwork, he said. While the establishments will be allowed to stay open till 5 am on the specified nights, they will also have to follow specific terms and conditions, the official said. According to the conditions, establishment owners will arrange private security guards inside and outside their premises to avoid law a

Latur civic polls: BJP goes solo after alliance talks with NCP break down

The much-anticipated alliance between the BJP and NCP for the January 15 elections to the Latur Municipal Corporation (LMC) in Maharashtra appears to have broken down with the former announcing it will contest all 70 seats independently. Talking to reporters on Tuesday, the last day of filing nominations, former minister and BJP's Latur civic poll in-charge, MLA Sambhajirao Patil Nilangekar, declared his party will contest all 70 seats in the LMC. He said the BJP had made sincere efforts to forge an alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Despite the willingness shown by senior NCP leaders in the district, he claimed the alliance was derailed due to interference by second and third-rung functionaries who threw a spanner in the works. He noted that NCP leaders, including Minister Babasaheb Patil, former minister Sanjay Bansode and MLC Vikram Kale, were keen on contesting the polls as part of the alliance. However, office bearers accompanying the NCP leadership allegedly

BMC polls: Uddhav Thackeray releases booklet on Covid-19 track record

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has released a booklet highlighting the work he did during the COVID-19 pandemic when he was helming the Maharashtra government, a strategic move ahead of the civic polls. The booklet, released on Sunday, lists measures Thackeray took as chief minister to contain the pandemic in areas such as Dharavi and other parts of Mumbai during the Maha Vikas Aghadi's rule between 2019 and 2022. The Sena (UBT) last week announced an alliance with Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for the Mumbai civic polls, but the parties haven't yet declared their lists of candidates. Elections to 29 civic bodies, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, will be held on January 15. The counting of votes will take place the next day. The election to the BMC can be viewed as a high-stakes battle for Uddhav Thackeray, as he attempts to reclaim control of the country's richest civic body, which has been under the undivided Shiv Sena from 1997 to 20

Ajit Pawar announces NCP reunion with Sharad Pawar faction for civic polls

Ajit Pawar announced that the NCP and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) will contest the Pimpri-Chinchwad civic polls together, calling it a moment of family unity; seat-sharing details will be announced late

Chequered year: Mass surrender of Naxalites offers hope, crime tests police

From mass surrender of Naxalites to developments linked to the brutal murder of a sarpanch in Beed, from attack on Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan by a Bangladeshi man to high-profile fraud cases, including the Pune land deal, Maharashtra witnessed a chequered year in terms of crime and security in 2025. The previous year had ended on a tragic note with the brutal murder of Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed. The barbarity of the killing shook the conscience of not only the state but the entire nation. Its repercussions continued to reverberate this year. In January this year, the prime accused in the case, Walmik Karad, a close aide of NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, was booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and sent to judicial custody. In March, Munde, who was a minister at that time, had to step down due to mounting political pressure. In October this year, major success was scored in the anti-Naxal operation after key

Maharashtra 2025: Thackeray cousins unite, Mahayuti gains in local polls

The ruling alliance bagged 207 posts of municipal presidents and 4,422 seats in the municipal council and nagar panchayat polls held in December

Civic polls: Urban growth, strained services key voter issues in Mumbai

Nine of the 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra going to polls on January 15 are from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), where urban challenges, centred on pollution, housing, water, sanitation and public transport, are expected to influence voter behaviour. Amid identity politics over caste, language, religion and the Marathi Manoos' narrative, candidates and political parties are recalibrating their platforms to address core civic issues. In the recent session of the state legislature, the state government announced an amnesty scheme to regularise over 20,000 buildings in MMR that lack occupancy certificates. A new regulatory framework has been announced to redevelop Mumbai's pagdi' buildings (tenancy rental model where the tenant is a part-owner of a house). In the nine civic corporations of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Vasai-Virar, Bhiwandi, Mira-Bhayandar, Ulhasnagar and Panvel, local socio-economic and infrastructure issues are taking centre stage in ..

Let bars be open till 5 am during year-end: Hotels body to Maha govt

HRAWI has sought a limited extension for excise-licensed hotels and restaurants to serve till 5 am on December 24, 25 and 31, seeking clarity for planning and crowd management

What split the Thackerays? Inside the feud that broke the Shiv Sena

Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray have reunited ahead of the January 15 BMC polls, ending a long feud over leadership and succession that split the Shiv Sena nearly two decades ago