Sabarmati: If the land acquisition for the bullet train project is not completed in Maharashtra soon, the project may be completed in two phases. In such scenario, the first phase will involve the route from Ahmedabad to Vapi in Gujarat, where land acquisition is going on smoothly.

“If we get the land, then the project can be commissioned in both Gujarat and Maharashtra. We are also preparing whether we can run bullet train till Vapi (Gujarat) in the first phase if there is a delay in land acquisition in Maharashtra,” Vinod Kumar Yadav, Chairman of Railway Board, said.

Yadav further said that the Maharashtra government has assured that they will make more efforts to ensure 80 percent of the land required for the project is made available in the next four months. Tenders are invited only when 80-90 percent of the land is available. More than 80% of the land acquisition has been done in Gujarat.

Unfortunately after Shiv Sena – NCP – Congress govt came to power in Maharashtra, it stopped the progress of land acquisition and other procedures for bullet train project, while Gujarat has completed all preparations on its side: Dy CM, Gujarat, Nitin Patel pic.twitter.com/mDsqNBHKe1

— DeshGujarat (@DeshGujarat) December 27, 2020

Vinod said that Indian Railways invites tenders in any project only when 80 to 90 percent of the land required for the project is under their control. Also, it is essential that for the remaining 10 to 20 percent of the land, there is certainty that it will be acquired on time so that when the project starts, it does not get halted due to land unavailability.

Meanwhile in reply to a question, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel today said, ‘Unfortunately after Shiv Sena – NCP – Congress govt came to power in Maharashtra, it stopped the progress of land acquisition and other procedures for bullet train project, while Gujarat has completed all preparations on its side. Unfortunately the present government in Maharashtra is stalling it, but we don’t find it necessary to stop the progress of the project due to that. For the first phase, preparations are over on Gujarat side, between Ahmedabad and Vapi.’