Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train stalled due to Uddhav Thackeray, says Railway Minister Ashwnini Vaishaw

Among the ambitious projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the first Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project in the country was to be completed in 2023. However, this project was stalled during the tenure of then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a press conference on Wednesday. Permissions required for various bullet train operations in Maharashtra were not granted during his tenure. However, as soon as the government changed, the present government has given all the permissions and the project is being accelerated, said Vaishnaw.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the budget on Wednesday. In this budget, a capital provision of INR 2.41 lakh crore was made for Indian Railways. It will focus on high speed trains, bullet trains and new tracks. Therefore, the work of Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train is likely to speed up. After the presentation of the Union Budget, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw blamed the delay in the bullet train on Maha Vikas Aghadi government era Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in a press conference.

For the Ahmedabad-Bullet Train project, 98.76 percent of land has been acquired in Maharashtra, 98.91 percent in Gujarat and 100 percent in Dadra Nagar Haveli. Meanwhile, information was given by National High Speed Railway Corporation Limited that an average of 98.87 percent of land has been acquired for Maharashtra, Gujarat, Dadra-Nagar Haveli. Out of the 430.45 hectares of land required for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project in the state, 425.11 hectares of land has been acquired. In this, 4.83 hectares of land in Mumbai has been acquired. About 286 out of 288.77 hectares in Palghar district, about 131 hectares out of 136.85 hectares have been acquired in Thane.

The Central Government established the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) in February 2016. The company was entrusted with the task of building a network of bullet trains, planning and implementing projects across the country. After approving the country's first Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train in September 2020, the government also tasked NHSRCL with preparing detailed project reports for seven high-speed rail corridors across the country.