The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), overseeing the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, provided an update stating that all civil contracts in Gujarat and Maharashtra have been awarded. Additionally, the corporation confirmed the awarding of contracts for depots and electrical works.
Land Acquisition and Tunnel Completion
Progress on the project includes the completion of 190 km of viaduct and 321 km of pier work. Land acquisition efforts in Gujarat, Dadra Nagar Haveli, and Maharashtra have been fully completed. Notably, the first mountain tunnel, spanning 350 meters near Zaroli Village in Valsad, Gujarat, has also been completed.
Significant infrastructure milestones include the construction of three steel bridges, each spanning 70 meters in Surat, 100 meters in Anand, and 130 meters in Vadodara. Moreover, construction of eight river bridges, including those over Par, Purna, Mindhola, Ambika, Auranga, Venganiya, Mohar, and Dhadhar rivers, has been finalized. Work on bridges over Narmada, Tapti, Mahi, and Sabarmati rivers is currently in progress.
In Maharashtra, work has commenced on India’s first seven-kilometer undersea rail tunnel, part of a larger 21-kilometer tunnel between BKC and Shilphata. Excavation activities for the Mumbai Bullet Train station and the tunnel shaft are actively underway.
Foundation work for all eight bullet train stations on the Gujarat side, including Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Anand, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, and Sabarmati, has been completed. In Maharashtra, construction has begun on the Mumbai Bullet Train station.
Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently indicated that the project is slated for completion by 2026, with initial services running between Surat and Bilimora. Despite initial delays related to land acquisition challenges, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor has been steadily progressing since construction commenced in November 2021.
The project, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then-Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Ahmedabad on September 14, 2017, is being overseen by NHSRCL. The corporation, established under the Companies Act, 2013 on February 12, 2016, operates as a Special Purpose Vehicle with equity participation from the Central Government through the Ministry of Railways, along with the governments of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Initially estimated at Rs 108,000 crore with an anticipated completion period of eight years, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project remains on track to significantly enhance high-speed rail connectivity in India.
