New Delhi: The Ministry of Railways on Saturday informed that the much-awaited Bullet Train Project has got affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic and may get delayed from its deadline of 2023 as the land acquisition work is still underway.
While addressing a press conference, the newly appointed CEO of Railways, Vinod Kumar Yadav stated that the bullet train project was progressing well, but the work got affected due to COVID-19 and now the real timeframe for its completion can be gauged within the next three to six months when the status of land acquisition will be ascertained.
The statement comes amid the reports of a five-year delay in the Bullet train project due to various reasons including steep rates quoted by bidders, tender cancellation, less response from Japanese companies and COVID-19 pandemic.
Yadav clarified that in a linear project like the Bullet train project, work can only begin when at least 90 per cent of the land has been acquired. Currently, 66 per cent of land has been acquired for the project. Railway Ministry is facing an issue in Maharashtra, where only about 100 hectares of the required 430 hectares of land have been acquired as of now.
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Yadav is confident that Railways will be able to complete 95 per cent of land acquisition for the stretch of Gujarat in the next three months. He also said that pre-Corona times, the Ministry was conducting a joint measurement survey in Maharashtra, which got halted due to the pandemic.
"We are hoping that within the next three to six months, we will be able to achieve that point. Our designs are ready and we are set to go. The tenders and land acquisition were indeed delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic, but I can say that the project is progressing well," said the Railway official.
He further added, "As the COVID-19 situation improves, we will be able to start the bidding process and within the next three to six months, we will be able to get the status of land acquired. Only after that, we can provide a real timeframe for completion of this project."
The original timeline of the competition of Bullet Train project was December 2023 for which a 508-km long Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor will be constructed. Railway Ministry has taken 80 per cent loan from Japan at 0.1 per cent interest and a 15-year moratorium. The entire system is also going to be built mostly by Japanese technology.
Reacting over the reports claiming Japanese companies are not much keen in this project, Yadav said, "An undersea tunnel is to be constructed for which tender has still not been finalised. Due to COVID pandemic, international travel was stopped and we are not able to have a meeting with these companies."
"It is not true that Japanese companies are not interested in this project. We are receiving a lot of requests from various companies. But it has been delayed due to COVID-19," Yadav replied to ETV Bharat.
Yadav assured that the halt in Bullet train project is temporary and as soon as the pandemic subsides, Railways will again start it's bidding process.
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