Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet Train Project To Pick Up Pace After All Clearances By Maharashtra Govt

The Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train, one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in India which has been lagging behind schedule was given a major boost on Thursday by the new Maharashtra government.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the government has given all the clearances for expediting the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project.

AFP/ File Image

The pending issues were related to forest clearances and land acquisition, among others, he said.

The estimated cost of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project is Rs 1,10,000 crore, out of which Rs 88,000 crore are being funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Bullet train project delayed due to land acquisition

The foundation stone for the mega project was laid in September 2017. The initial deadline to complete the ambitious project was December 2023, which was later revised to 2026 and then to 2027.

Land acquisition was one of the major hurdles, which slowed down the project.

BCCL

A total of 1,434.4 hectares of land will be required for the project including private, government, forest and railway land.

As of September 2021, only 30 percent of the required land was acquired by NHSRCL in Maharashtra.

Uddav Thackeray government went slow

The previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government headed by Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had not taken any step to put the project on fast track. Thackeray had instead asked the railway ministry to build the high-speed train corridor between Pune and Nagpur cities.

Thackeray had even termed the bullet train project a ¡°white elephant¡±.

High-speed travel between Ahmedabad and Mumbai

The bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad is 508.17 kilometers long, and the travel time between the two cities will be reduced to two hours.

BCCL

There are around 12 proposed stations out of which eight are in Gujarat and four in Mumbai. In Gujarat, there are stations proposed in Vapi, Bilimora, Bharuch, Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Anand and Sabarmati.

Project head sacked for corruption

Last week the Indian Railways had sacked Satish Agnihotri, the Managing Director of National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) and the person who was in charge of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project over corruption allegations.

BCCL/ File

In June a Lokpal court ordered the CBI to probe charges of a "quid pro quo" deal allegedly struck by the former NHSRCL MD with a private company during his nine-year tenure as CMD of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL).

Agnihotri, a 1982-batch IRSE officer was facing multiple allegations including the misuse of official position and diverting funds in an unauthorised manner to a private company.

For more on news, sports, and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.