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Govt goes soft on BKC for bullet train terminal, proposes two locations

The state government has proposed two locations inside BKC for construction of the bullet train terminal. The third one is proposed at Dharavi, which the Railways is unlikely to accept, state government officials said.

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In the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe going to conduct the stone-laying ceremony for ambitious bullet train project connecting Mumbai and Ahmedabad on Wednesday, the Maharashtra government has softened its stand of allowing Railways entering Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) for construction of bullet train terminal.

The state government has proposed two locations inside BKC for construction of the bullet train terminal. The third one is proposed at Dharavi, which the Railways is unlikely to accept, state government officials said.

Earlier, the state government and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) were opposed to giving land to the Railways for bullet train terminal at BKC, citing it to be costly and the MMRDA wanting the vacant land for construction of International Financial Service Centre (IFSC).

However, the bullet train project is a pet project of PM Modi and it was on the demand of the Centre that the state government had to change its decision.

"The state government has proposed two locations inside BKC. Of the two, one is near Mithi River. The other one is at IFSC," UPS Madan, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA, told DNA.

According to MMRDA officials, if the Railways does not find the site near Mithi River, the both the bullet train terminals would be at IFSC. The design would be prepared accordingly.

MMRDA, however, earlier had pointed out that the land rate in BKC is very high and it wants to monetise the land parcels in BKC for garnering funds for crucial infrastructure projects in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). It also wants to construct an International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) on the plot, which the Railways want for the bullet train terminal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe will be laying the foundation stone of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train on Thursday from Ahmedabad in Gujarat. The high-speed corridor will be elevated, and bullet train will ply at 300 km to 350 km per hour. The estimated cost of the project will be Rs 1,10,000 crore. Of this, Japan will offer a loan of Rs 88,000 crores at an interest of 0.1%. The amount will be repaid in 50 years to the foriegn country with 15 years grace.

Bullet train will cover 508-km from Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The 12 proposed stations between Mumbai and Ahmedabad are BKC, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati. The distance would be covered in 2 hours and 58 minutes.

Analysis

The state government’s softening its stand on allowing construction of bullet train terminal at BKC would help the Railways clear one of the major hurdle considering BKC is proposed to be one of the starting point of bullet train and the land acquisition for the same is crucial for the project to begin civil construction work.

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