The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project is now estimated to cost around ₹ 1.98 lakh crore, a significant jump from its original projection, with the revised figure awaiting final Cabinet approval, The Indian Express has reported.
The updated estimate was disclosed on Friday by Satish Kumar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Railway Board, during a briefing held on the sidelines of the 50th meeting of the Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI) framework.
Kumar said the second revised estimate is still under examination and has not yet received final sanction.
Asked whether the project had witnessed a cost over-run, Kumar said the amount remains under revision and is expected to be approved by the Cabinet within the next one or two months.
The high-speed rail corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, India’s first bullet train project, was initially pegged at around ₹ 1.08 lakh crore. Financing for the project includes low-interest loans of about ₹ 88,000 crore from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. It has been learnt that the additional cost will be borne by the Indian government, with no further funding expected from the Japanese agency.
The project is being executed by the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited, a special purpose vehicle set up in 2016 to implement high-speed rail infrastructure in the country. Progress on the corridor was affected by delays in land acquisition and disruptions during the coronavirus pandemic. While operations were earlier planned to begin in 2022, full completion is now targeted for the end of 2029.
Providing an update on timelines earlier this week, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the first bullet train service is expected to run on August 15, 2027, starting with the Surat-Bilimora section. The corridor will be opened in phases, covering the Vapi-Surat, Vapi-Ahmedabad, and Thane-Ahmedabad stretches before the Mumbai-Ahmedabad section becomes operational in the final stage.
The 508-kilometre corridor will include 12 stations located at Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Billimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad, and Sabarmati.
