Indian Railways (IR) has received all the necessary wildlife, forestry and coastal regulation zone clearances in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra for a 508km-long bullet train project running between Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
At a virtual press conference, Railway Board chairman and CEO V K Yadav said: “Requisite Wildlife, Forestry and Coastal Regulation Zone clearances in the state of Gujarat and Maharashtra have been obtained.”
Nearly 67% of the land needed for the bullet train project has been obtained by IR.
The entity could obtain 825ha of land out of the total 956ha required in Gujarat while it could obtain only 97ha in Maharashtra out of the total 432ha required for the project.
In Dadra and Nagar Haveli, a total of 7ha out of 8ha of land has been acquired.
IR stated that out of 1,651 utilities, 1,070 have been shifted for the train corridor.
Yadav added that tenders worth $4bn have been floated in Gujarat for the high-speed train project that covers five stations and 325km of viaducts.
On 14 September 2017, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the then-Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone for this $17bn-worth project
The deadline for completion of this project has been set for December 2023.
The bullet trains are expected to operate at 350km/hour and cover the 508km stretch in about two hours.
Trains operating on this route currently take more than seven hours, while flights take around an hour.
