Railway Board chairman VK Yadav on Monday (3 August) said that 60 per cent of the land have been acquired for the bullet train project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai despite the disruption and delay caused by COVID-19 pandemic, reports Hindustan Times.

Yadav shared that the construction of one section of the high-speed rail corridor will be tendered out within three months after nearly 90 per cent of the land acquisition for the project is completed.

The Indian Railways has already completed 76 per cent of the land acquisition in Gujarat, while the figure in Maharashtra stands at 24 per cent. Overall land acquisition for the project stands at 60 per cent.

However, Yadav has expressed confidence that most of the land acquisition will be completed in the next six months, given the process has started picking up pace.

“In mega projects we go for tendering only when 90 per cent of the land is acquired. We will be going ahead when we acquire some more land and a complete uninterrupted stretch of land is available. Project is progressing well. We will be going ahead with tendering within three months,” Yadav was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the Indian Railways has already completed the designs and alignment for the project.

Earlier last month, the Indian Railways has said that the high speed rail corridor, which has a project completion deadline of December 2023, is expected to be completed on time despite the Covid-19 pandemic.