Bullet train project acquires 60% land, but may fail to meet 2023 deadline

Apart from land acquisition, another major cause for concern before the project is cost escalation owing to a fall in the rupee against the Japanese yen.

Despite facing public protests and resistance from the Maharashtra government, the country’s first bullet train project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai has been able to acquire almost 60 per cent of the land required for the project. However, meeting the December 2023 deadline is still a cause for concern for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet project on the back of the Covid-19 outbreak.

“We are on fast track. We have acquired 60 per cent of the land required for the project. Interestingly, in Gujarat it goes up to around 77 per cent,” said Achal Khare, managing director of the National High-Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRCL), the company in charge of India’s bullet train road map.

The total land requirement for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor project was reduced to 1,380.08 hectares (ha), from 1,434.47 ha late last year, mainly due to actual reconciliation of the project scope. Of the total land required, 1,004.91 ha is private land. So far, around 820-830 ha has been acquired by NHSRCL.