Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail: Only 14 percent work completed in Maha against 32.93 in Gujarat

Representative Image. Pic/iStock

The Ministry of Railways on Wednesday said that the delay in land acquisition in the State of Maharashtra has affected the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) project.

Responding to a question of Member of Parliament from the Nalanda constituency of Bihar in Lok Sabha, Kaushalendra Kumar, the Minister of Railways Ashwani Vaishnaw in a written response said that till February this year, a physical progress of 32.93 per cent in Gujarat and 13.72 per cent in Maharashtra has been achieved.

He said till now, out of total 352 km elevated viaduct, approximately 257 km of piling, 180 km of foundation, 155 km of the pier and 37 km of girder launching have been completed in Gujarat and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

Kumar had sought the present status of the rail project and the amount spent on it so far. He also sought the details of cost escalation and the time limit fixed for the completion of the project.

The Minister said that an expenditure of rupees 38,506 crore has so far been incurred on Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) project.

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He said that the total cost of MAHSR project was estimated at rupees 1,08,000 crore in 2015. "The execution of the project has been affected due to delay in land acquisition in the State of Maharashtra and consequent delays in finalization of contracts as well as adverse impact of Covid-19."

The ground-breaking ceremony of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) project was held on 14^th September 2017 in presence of Prime Ministers of India and Japan.