25.9.20

3 Indian bids for first bullet train tender

The National High Speed Rail Corporation opened the bids for first tender entailing investment of around Rs 20,000 crore for construction work for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project. All the bidders for this 237km stretch of the mainline are Indian companies.

NHSRCL said this is one of the biggest tenders covering 47% of the bullet train alignment between Vapi and Vadodara in Gujarat. This work also includes construction of four stations on this corridor.

As per an official release, three bidders involving seven major infrastructure companies have participated in the competitive bidding. Two of these are consortiums – Afcons Infrastructure-IRCON International-JMC Projects India, and NCC-Tata Project-J Kumar Infra Projects – and Larsen and Toubro.

Officials said the 237 km corridor will cross 24 rivers and 30 road crossings. “This entire section is in Gujarat where over 83% of the land has been acquired for the project,” the NHSRCL spokesperson said.

There is a high possibility of the government starting operations of the country’s first bullet trains project before next Lok Sabha election at least in the Gujarat portion.

The land acquisition has been delayed in Maharashtra. On Wednesday, the railway ministry informed the Rajya Sabha that the delay, particularly in Maharashtra, was due to “resistance of local residents at some locations.” In Maharashtra, barely 23% land has been acquired so far.

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