Govt Approves Pune-Nashik High Speed Rail Connectivity, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis Confirms

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the Ministry of Railways has accorded "in principle approval" for the Pune-Nashik high-speed rail project. Fadnavis made the announcement after a meeting with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw here. "I thank the Railway minister for granting in-principle approval to the Pune-Nashik high-speed railway project," the Maharashtra deputy chief minister said.

He said officials from Maharashtra and the railway ministry will make a technical appraisal of the project and then take the proposal to the Union Cabinet for approval. "Pune and Nashik are important cities of Maharashtra economically and culturally. It would be our endeavour to provide rail connectivity to these two cities," Vaishnaw said.

Thank you Hon Railway Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw ji for in-principle approval to Pune-Nashik Hi-speed Rail project. This will boost development of both the cities & seamless connectivity to the industrial zones of Pune and Nashik. pic.twitter.com/hb4rDkZxlQ — Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) February 5, 2023

"We had a detailed discussion on the technical aspects of the project and will now take it forward," the Railway minister said. Fadnavis said high-speed rail between Pune and Nashik will boost development and provide seamless connectivity to the industrial zones of both the cities.

Recently, Finance Minister, during her Budget 2023 presentation, allocated record budget for Indian Railways. Under the same, Maharashtra got the maximum share. The record allocation of Rs 13,539 crore for railways in Maharashtra will have a "very good effect", Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

Vaishnaw said that the allocation in the 2023-24 Budget for Maharashtra was 11 times the average allocation between 2009 to 2014. Saying that the union government was getting good cooperation from the Eknath Shinde-led government, Vaishnaw reiterated the charge that when Uddhav Thackeray was chief minister, the bullet train project did not get any clearances from the state government.

"The deadline for Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project (completion) is August 2026," he added. The production of Vande Bharat Express trains has been ramped up and a train is being manufactured in 7 to 9 days, he said. "We will modernize and redevelop 123 stations in Maharashtra. As for CSMT (in Mumbai), by March end tenders will be opened. Primary pre-work has already begun," Vaishnaw said.

With agencies inputs