Bullet train project gets a boost

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has issued directives to move a structure of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) that is located on a plot at BKC

Mumbai The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, a pet project of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is a step closer to reality with orders for removal of a structure that is currently on the plot earmarked for the terminus.

Over 70% of land required in Maharashtra for the bullet train project has already been acquired till now, in Palghar and Thane districts (PTI)

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has issued directives to move a structure of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) that is located on a plot at the Bandra- Kurla Complex (BKC), which is earmarked for the terminus of the high-speed train project.

An MMRDA official, who did not wish to be named, said that the moving of the petrol pump structure will be done soon. “Land allotment was earlier stuck for three years but it is now finalized,” said the official. The MMRDA has allowed alternate land for the BPCL petrol pump at the G block of BKC.

The BKC terminus of the bullet train corridor will have a three-storey underground structure. The station will have six platforms on the lowest floor of the three-level station. The estimated cost of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project is ₹1,10,000 crore, of which ₹88,000 crore will be funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The terminus plan was stuck due to the delay in making the BKC plot available for the terminus. The previous MVA government had not shown much willingness to put the project on the fast track. In fact, then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had insisted that the railway ministry also take a decision on building a high-speed train corridor connecting cities of Maharashtra such as Pune and Nagpur.

Over 70% of land required in Maharashtra for the bullet train project has already been acquired till now, in Palghar and Thane districts.

The tender of the BKC high-speed railway station was floated in 2019 by NHSRCL. Seven Indian companies had shown interest in the construction of the station. But the tender was later cancelled as land was not handed over by the state government.