Narendra Modi’s ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project comes to a halt

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project which was expected to be constructed by August 2022, has hit a major roadblock in Maharashtra’s Palghar district. The bullet train project has hit a land acquisition hurdle as reported by Economic Times. The locals and tribals living in the Palghar district have put up a resistance to the bullet train project.

More than 70 tribal villages of Palghar district in Maharashtra have refused to give their land for the project and an agitation is building up against the proposed rail corridor that will pass through these villages. The project was to be kickstarted by January 2019 and was touted to be India’s first high-speed project with a rail corridor of 508 kilometers. The train connecting the capitals of Maharashtra and Gujarat would have 110 km of the corridor passing through Palghar district.

“We are facing resistance in some parts of Maharashtra but are hopeful that the construction of the project will begin as per our timeline. We are offering five times the circle rate of land as compensation to people whose land is being acquired,” a railway ministry official spoke to the Economic Times. Indian Railways is acquiring around 1,400 hectares of linear land in Maharashtra and Gujarat at a massive cost of Rs 10,000 crore.

“Issue is with acquisition of around 200 hectares of land to be acquired in Palghar district villages. These, mostly tribal villages, are averse to any kind of development. Also, local politics is playing out even in the case of project which has so much national importance,” the official added. “Out of these 73 villages, 50 could agree soon as the dialogue with them is on. The main problem is the remaining 23 villages who don’t want any kind of engagement with railways. They even manhandle our officials during surveys,” the official added. Of 508 km of the train corridor that will encompass 12 stations, 349 km will pass through Gujarat and 154 km through Maharashtra. In Maharashtra, around 7 km will pass through suburban Mumbai, 39 km will pass through Thane and 110 km through Palghar.

The Indian government has already started getting funds from Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the land acquisition has begun in some parts of Mumbai. JICA is providing a soft loan of Rs 88,000 crore for the project for a period of 50 years at an annual interest rate of 0.1%. Japan has given a moratorium of 15 years to the railways, which means the railways will start paying only after 15 years from the date the loan was released.