Land acquisition for the bullet train project has gained momentum in Maharashtra under the Eknath Shinde-led government as nearly all of the land required for the project has now been acquired.
According to the progress report on the bullet train project released by the Ministry of Railways on Friday, 95.45 per cent of the required land has been acquired in Maharashtra. This was at a mere 75.25 per cent in August.
According to sources, the recently formed government in Maharashtra has been acquiring the land for the project on a priority basis.
Taking to Twitter, the Ministry of Railways said that 97.82 per cent of the total land required for the project has already been acquired.
Similar to Maharashtra, 98.87 per cent of the required land has been acquired in Gujarat, while in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, 100 per cent of required land has been acquired.
However, overall physical progress of the project is only at 22.46 per cent. This is only marginally higher than 21.3 per cent in terms of overall physical progress in September.
Completed works in Gujarat include 188.28 Km pile work, 96.32 Km pier work and 7.84 Km girders have been launched.
The 508-km long Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) project has been developed with the financial and technical assistance from the Government of Japan at a total cost of ₹ 1,08,000 crore.
Once completed, it is estimated that the distance between the two cities will be covered in 2 hours and seven minutes at a maximum operational speed of 320 kilometre per hour.
The National High Speed Rail Corporation, which is the special purpose vehicle to implement the project, has already floated bids for a number of works as part of the overall construction, including for the design and construction of an underground station at Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex as well as tunnelling works.
The bullet train project was expected to be completed by 2023 but delays in land acquisition and the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted its progress.