Bullet train out if Cong-NCP-Sena in, says report
Already over 48 per cent of the land has been acquired for the high-speed project.
New Delhi: India's highly ambitious Bullet train project of National High-Speed Railway Corp (NHSRCL) would hit a roadblock if the Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena alliance forms government in Maharashtra.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe had jointly laid the foundation stone of the Bullet train project -- that would run between Maharashtra's Mumbai and Gujarat's Ahmedabad -- in September 2017.
A senior NCP source told IANS that "during the first meeting of the three parties in Mumbai last week, discussions were held on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet train project in which we informed the leaders that according to Central government, the Maharashtra government would be bearing Rs 5,000 crore of the total Rs 1.08 lakh crore cost."
"And then we concluded that once we form the government in the state then we will inform the Central government that the state government will not bear the cost of the high-speed train project and will spend the same money on some other pro-people schemes," he said.
The source told IANS that the alliance would rather spend the amount for farmer's welfare.
India's first bullet train would cover the stretch of 508-km, cutting travel time from seven hours to less than three.
For the high-speed train project, which is slated to be completed by 2023, NHSRCL has already acquired over 48 per cent of the land and also floated tenders for several works.