With Maharashtra govt change, railways hope for early completion of bullet train

With the new government coming to power in Maharashtra, in which the BJP is also a partner, the Ministry of Railways hopes for early land acquisition to construct Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream project, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train.
The work was stuck in Maharashtra as the previous government delayed granting various approvals, including land acquisition. Though the implementing agency, National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), has acquired most of the private land in Maharashtra, it is struggling to get government land as files were stuck after not getting approval.

The 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed corridor is being built at an estimated cost of Rs 1.1 trillion and will have 12 stations in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Though 432 hectares of land is needed in Maharashtra for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad project, NHSRCL has acquired 312 hectares till now and is struggling to get the rest, primarily due to the “stalling tactics” of the state.

Since the new government came to power, the railways hopes to get the required land for the project. The railways officials will soon meet the officials of the Maharashtra government to get the remaining land, said an official in the railways.

For instance, they said, the NHSRCL had to cancel tenders floated in November 2019 for the construction of the underground terminus at the Bandra Kurla Complex as the state government allegedly failed to hand over the 4.88-hectare land it had promised at the BKC.

Even a tender for the construction of a 21-km undersea tunnel between Thane and Virar was cancelled because of the non-availability of a small parcel of about 3.92 hectares of land in Vikroli.

Even 95 hectares of forest land to be used for the project remained stuck despite the NHSRCL having already paid the amount mandatory under the compensatory afforestation rules.

Though the 95 per cent land acquisition on the Gujarat side was completed, the railways is focusing on completing the 48-km stretch between Surat and Bilimora in Gujarat by 2026.

Recently, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said they are confident of achieving the target of running the country's first bullet train between Surat and Bilimora in Gujarat in 2026 as good progress has been made in this direction.