Up to ₹13,000 crore has been allocated for the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Project in Financial Year 2022-23 and ₹19,592 crore for FY2023-24, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in reply to a written question in the Rajya Sabha. Almost all the land required for the project had been acquired in Gujarat and Maharashtra, he said.
“All civil contract packages have been awarded in Gujarat and tunnel as well as bridge works are in full swing. Of three civil contract packages in Maharashtra, two are under evaluation, and tender for one is opening by April 2023,” the Minister said.
Till February, physical progress of 32.93% in Gujarat and 13.72% in Maharashtra had been achieved. There are nearly eight tunnels and 36 bridges to be built for the bullet train to run smoothly in Maharashtra, of which none of the works has yet been completed.
Work progress of NHSRCL
The NHSRCL has awarded the first contract in the State for work related to the design and construction of an underground Mumbai high-speed rail station to a joint venture of Megha Engineering and Infrastructure and Hindustan Construction Company. The total area to be covered is 4.85 hectares and the completion time is 54 months from the commencement date. The cost of the contract is nearly ₹3,681 crore.
The station will have six platforms and the length of each platform will be 415 meters to accommodate a 16-coach bullet train. The platform is planned at a depth of about 24 meters from the ground level.
In Gujarat, there is one tunnel and 140 bridges to be built of which work on nine bridges is complete.
The entire project work has been divided into 28 contract packages of which 19 packages have been awarded, three are under evaluation. Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) has been published in the case of three packages and for the balance of three packages, the NIT is yet to be published.
Mr. Vaishnaw said the anticipated timeline for completion of the project could only be ascertained after the land acquisition was complete and all timelines related to the completion of all contracts had been finalized.