Maharashtra: 96 Per Cent Of Land Needed For Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project Acquired

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project is gaining momentum as nearly 96 per cent of the land for the project has been acquired in Maharashtra.

In Maharashtra, the project runs through Thane, Palghar, and Mumbai.

The project involves two states and one Union Territory: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

The project achieved 100 per cent and 98.8 per cent land acquisition in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Gujarat, respectively, in August.

A total of 1,070 acres of land was required in Maharashtra.

The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Ltd. (NHSRCL), which is carrying out this project, has acquired nearly 1,015 acres, of which almost 71 per cent is now in its possession.

According to MMRDA, the land needed for the terminus of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project will be granted by December.

The state government has already acquired 333 acres (96 per cent of the required 348 acres) in Thane. The NHSRCL currently holds 260 acres, approximately 75 per cent of this district's total amount of land needed, reports the Times of India.

Of the 712 acres of land in the Palghar district, over 675 acres had also been acquired, and NHSRCL had acquired 506 acres. 

In Mumbai, the NHSRCL has acquired 2.4 acres out of the needed 11.9 acres.  

The country's first 'bullet' train, a nickname the train gets from its bullet-like shape and speed, will traverse west India's landscape, covering 508.17 km distance between Mumbai and Ahmedabad in just about two hours.

It will save time compared to the current travel time between the two terminal stations by about nine hours (by bus) or six hours (by conventional railways). 

The entire route of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train will have 12 stations — eight in Gujarat and four in Maharashtra. Gujarat's stations include — Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand/Nadiad, Ahmedabad, and Sabarmati, and stations in Maharashtra include Mumbai (BKC), Thane, Virar and Boisar.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor suffered delays under the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, which had labelled the project as "vanity". The lack of political will meant land acquisition for the project was delayed.

With the return of the BJP in government in Maharashtra, the state administration has shifted the focus to completing the land acquisition. 

The new government also granted all clearances for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor in the state.

The project was sanctioned in December 2015 at an estimated cost of Rs 108,000 crore with 80 per cent Japanese funding as an easy loan.

According to a report in PTI, as per the shareholding pattern, the central government is to pay Rs 10,000 crore to the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL), the implementing agency of the project, while the two states involved — Gujarat and Maharashtra — are to pay Rs 5,000 crore each. Japan will pay the rest through a loan at 0.1 per cent interest.