MoHUA, MoR ink MoU with JICA for Project SMART

Project SMART envisages developing surrounding areas of Mumbai -Ahmedabad High-Speed Railways (MAHSR) station to enhance accessibility and convenience of commuters and other stakeholders and to promote economic activities in the vicinity of station areas.

New Delhi:With an aim for 'Station Area Development along the Mumbai Ahmadabad High-Speed Rail (Project SMART), the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and Ministry of Railways (MoR) jointly signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on Monday.

Project SMART envisages developing surrounding areas of Mumbai -Ahmedabad High-Speed Railways (MAHSR) station to enhance accessibility and convenience of commuters and other stakeholders and to promote economic activities in the vicinity of station areas. The project would facilitate and enhance the institutional capacity of State governments, municipal corporations and urban development authorities to plan, develop and manage surrounding areas' MAHSR stations. The MoU was inked for four High-Speed Rail Stations (Out of 12 stations in-route), Sabarmati, and Surat in Gujarat, and Virar and Thane in Maharashtra. Surat, Virar, and Thane are Greenfield while Sabarmati is a Brownfield development.

Significantly, the Government of Gujarat, Maharashtra and JICA are organising a series of seminars and field visits for Project SMART in Delhi, Ahmadabad and Mumbai. "The first seminar took place on Monday where officials from the Japan embassy, JICA, Ministry of Railways, National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited, and Housing Ministry participated in the meeting," said an official from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

The next few deliberations of the seminars would contribute to preparation of 'station area development plans' for Sabarmati, Surat, Virar and Thane stations, model handbooks containing experiences and methodologies adopted in Japan, India and other countries for transit-oriented development (TOD) and station area development. It is worth mentioning that the Centre has adopted a 'whole of government approach' for inclusive growth in all sectors of the Central government.