Bullet train: Piyush Goyal, top Japanese official discuss Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project progress

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal met Hiroto Izumi, Special Advisor to Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and discussed the progress on the 508 km Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail (HSR) project here on Thursday, Indian Railways officials said. The National High-Speed Rail Corp Ltd (NHSRCL), carrying out the bullet train project is hopeful of acquiring a major chunk of land required by the end of this year.

The NHSRCL had acquired 39 per cent of the 1,380 hectares of land till last month. Notably, the bullet trains are expected to run at 320 km per hour, covering the 508-km stretch in about two hours. Trains plying on the route take over seven hours and planes about an hour. 

Earlier on June 29, Piyush Goyal stated that as many 24 bullet train sets have been planned for procurement from Japanese companies through tendering process. Replying to a query in the Rajya Sabha, he had said the estimated cost of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project is Rs 1,08,000 crore. This includes the cost that will be incurred on the rolling stock as well. 

He further stated that 81 per cent of this amount will be funded through the loan from the Japanese firm, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). 

On September 14, 2017, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Premier Shinzo Abe of Japan had laid the foundation stone for the Rs 1.08 lakh crore ($17 billion) HSR project, which is targeted to be completed by the year 2023.