Winning Bizness Desk
Mumbai. There is so much delay in the implementation of infra projects in our country that even the dream projects of the Prime Minister fall prey to it. Bullet train also comes in this as the project is going to take more than 3 years to get ready. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has said that from the month of August 2026, the country's first bullet train will start running on the track. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is constantly monitoring the project, along with the Japanese government is also cooperating, in such a situation, we believe that the bullet train will start running from August 2026. On 14 September 2017, Prime Minister Modi along with the then Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, laid the foundation stone of his ambitious bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Then the Modi government had said that when the country will celebrate 75th Independence Day on August 15, 2022, then the country's first bullet train will start running on the track. The year 2022 is over, but till now there was a doubt about when the bullet train would run. But the Railway Minister has said that the bullet train will start running from August 2026.
Land acquisition delayed in Maharashtra
It is clear from the statement of the Railway Minister that it will take another 3 and a half years for the bullet train project to be ready. In the last year 2022, in response to a question asked in the Lok Sabha as well, the Railway Minister had said that the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail project is running late. He had said that the delay in land acquisition in Maharashtra, the continuous delay in finalization of contracts along with the effects of Kovid-19 have delayed the bullet train project. Out of the 1396 hectares of land that was to be acquired for the Bullet Train project, 1248 hectares of land has been acquired. He said that the increase in the cost of the project due to delay can be assessed only after land acquisition, finalization of all contracts and completion of other timelines.
1.08 lakh crore expected cost
In 2015, Rs 1.08 lakh crore was estimated to be spent on the bullet train project. But due to various reasons, after the delay in the project, it is believed that the cost will increase. According to the MoU that was signed with the Government of Japan, the Government of Japan will provide a loan of 81 percent of the total project cost at an interest rate of 0.1 percent. It is also written in the MoU that the actual cost of the project and the loan amount can also be revised if needed. The loan has to be repaid in 50 years along with a grace period of 15 years.
Mumbai to Ahmedabad 508 km track
For the 508 km long bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, 353 km project is located in Gujarat and Dadar Nagar Haveli and work on civil works has started in 353 km since December 2020. There will be a total of 12 stations in the 508 kilometer long bullet train project between Sabarmati and Mumbai in Ahmedabad. With a maximum speed of 360 km, this bullet train will be able to speed up, while the operating speed will be 320 km. The distance between Mumbai to Sabarmati can be covered in 2.07 hours and after stopping at all the stations the journey will be completed in 2.58 hours.
