Maharashtra Govt gives clearances to Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project

New Delhi: Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday announced that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has given all the clearances to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train in the state.

The project can move forward now as the Maharashtra government has given all the necessary approvals to it move on, Fadnavis said in a press conference after the cabinet meeting. 

According to Deputy Chief Minister, India's first high speed rail has some of the unresolved concerns were land acquisition and clearing of forests. The project's anticipated cost is Rs 1,10,000 crore, of which the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is providing funding for Rs. 88,000 crores. However the MAHSR corridor will have 12 stations in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

The previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, headed by Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had not taken any step to put the project on the fast track. Thackeray had instead asked the railway ministry to build the high-speed train corridor between Pune and Nagpur cities.

Construction was expected to begin by April 2020, and the project was expected to be completed by December 2023. Due to delays acquiring land in Maharashtra, the completion date has been pushed to October 2024. The stretch of 50 km (31 mi) from Surat to Bilimora is expected to be completed by 2023.