Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train update: Bids invited for underground station in BKC

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced that the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited has issued an invitation for bids for the design and construction of an underground station at Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex as well as for tunnels needed for the project to build a bullet train. This is the first round of bids that have been requested since the Maharashtra government led by Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde took office. The project, which was inactive during the previous Uddhav Thackeray administration, has received approval from the new administration.

"Bids invited for design and construction of Mumbai underground station and tunnels for #BulletTrain," Vaishnaw said in a tweet. Earlier this year, the NHSRCL had cancelled tenders floated in November 2019 for the construction of an underground terminus at the Bandra Kurla Complex for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project after the state government failed to hand over the land.

Bids invited for design and construction of Mumbai underground station and tunnels for #BulletTrain pic.twitter.com/CfRXveQy3l — Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) July 22, 2022

After floating the tenders, the NHSRCL gave almost 11 extensions while waiting for the land at the BKC to be handed over to it.

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Earlier, the Maharashtra government declared that the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project has received all essential permissions. State deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis made the announcement. Following the state cabinet meeting, Fadnavis stated at a press conference that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has given the project the necessary permissions.

At the time, land acquisition and forest clearing were mentioned as some of the remaining issues. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is funding Rs. 88,000 crores of the project's estimated cost of Rs. 1,10,000 crore. More than 70% of the land required for the project in Maharashtra has been acquired in the districts of Thane and Palghar.

With inputs from PTI