The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project—a dream undertaking of Prime Minister Narendra Modi—got a much-needed push from the new Shinde-Fadnavis government in Maharashtra.
After Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis, took over as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, respectively, they decided to move forward with the high-speed railway corridor.
The project came up for discussion at the ‘Sankalp Se Siddhi - New India, New Resolve Conference’ held in Mumbai on Friday, and organised by Confederation of Indian Industry and India@75 Foundation, in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Culture.
“For certain reasons, Maharashtra remained behind while Gujarat worked swiftly for the bullet train. But we have decided to catch up because it is not just a bullet train, but the beginning of a new phase of transportation,” Fadnavis said at the conference.
Shinde said the Maharashtra government was focused on creating 15 industrial corridors in the state, and promised to work with the Centre to create a pro-industry ecosystem. The conference was presided over by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.
In his address, Gadkari said big infrastructure projects to connect Mumbai with Delhi, Pune and Bangalore were in the pipeline.
Gadkari informed that 70 per cent work on the ambitious Rs 1 lakh-crore Delhi-Mumbai Expressway was completed and that it would reduce the travel time between the national capital and the commercial capital to 12 hours.
“It is my dream to establish seamless connectivity from Nariman Point in Mumbai to Delhi through a network of coastal road and sea-link up to Vasai-Virar and beyond, with a project outlay of Rs 50,000 crores,” Gadkari announced.
The Union minister also requested the Government of Maharashtra to waive off the state goods and services tax on steel and cement required for the project.
Gadkari also informed the conference attendees about the plans to build direct road connection from Mumbai to Bangalore through Westerly By-Pass of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and Pune Ring Road.
He said its road alignment plan has already been prepared and the work is expected to begin soon. He also informed that a new Pune-Aurangabad road alignment has been planned, which will reduce the travel time between the two cities to just two hours.
Gadkari also announced that the new road alignment connecting Surat – Nashik – Ahmednagar – Solapur, would divert 50 per cent of the south-bound traffic coming from north India and would help in substantial reduction of air pollution in Thane, Mumbai and Pune.