Failure to procure land to hit project

Mumbai: The failure to procure land for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project within the deadline would delay the disbursal of soft loans by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). According to reports, Indian officials have sought a meeting this month with Japan's transport ministry officials in Tokyo to assuage their concerns.

The land acquisition is facing a stiff opposition from fruit growers of  Palghar district, from where the most of land will be acquired. The deadline sought to clear the land acquisition process is December 2018, which is likely to be missed by NHSRC. The total cost of the project is Rs 1.10 lakh crore of which 81 per cent of the cost will be borne by JICA. The Centre had promised the agency that it would complete the project before its deadline i.e. 2022.  

However, in order to hasten the acquisition process, the NHSRC has decided to improve its communications with farmers.