Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train: Land Acquisition Nears Completion As Maharashtra Acquires 99.75 Per Cent Of Land, Gujarat At 98.91 Per Cent

According to data shared by the National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL), the land acquisition process that commenced five years ago is close to completion for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project.

Maharashtra has overtaken Gujarat in gaining land with 99.75 per cent of the required land acquired. While Gujarat has clocked 98.91 per cent as of April 24, falling slightly behind, as per an Indian Express report.

The ongoing Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project has encountered several obstacles since its inception, with land acquisition being one of the most significant challenges. 

Prior to the Eknath Shinde-led government taking power in Maharashtra, the state had only achieved 75 per cent of land acquisition for the high-speed railway project.

This fell short in comparison to Gujarat, which had completed an impressive 98.5 per cent as of January 2022.

NHSRCL explained that completing the acquisition of larger portions of land in Maharashtra had expedited the project there now, however, the acquisition of smaller pieces of land in both states remains incomplete due to court battles with owners.

NHSRCL has paid Rs 3,217 crore to acquire 1,984 private plots in Maharashtra, leaving only 1.07 hectares to be acquired.

The 4.83 hectares required for the Mumbai project has been fully acquired, with only small plots of 0.32 hectares in Palghar and 0.75 hectares in Thane still on the pending list, as per the report.

In case of Gujarat, about 10.53 hectares remain to be acquired where Rs 6,104 crore has been paid for 6,248 private plots.

Of the eight districts where the bullet train will pass through, 100 per cent land acquisition has been completed in Kheda, Anand, Navsari and Valsad districts.

Meanwhile, Vadodara has the highest amount of pending acquisition at 5.47 hectares, followed by Surat with 4.89 hectares, while Ahmedabad and Bharuch only have 0.02 hectares and 0.05 hectares left for acquisition, respectively.

In 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe initiated the Rs 1.1-lakh crore project at Sabarmati in Ahmedabad.

However, land acquisition was delayed due to protests from farmers seeking better compensation. Consequently, NHSRCL reviewed and increased the compensation offered to private landowners.

Presently, this is the only sanctioned high-speed rail project in the country.

The first trial run of MAHSR project, is scheduled for August 2026 between Surat and Bilimora (63 km).

The government is yet to determine a final deadline for the entire project.