National High Speed Rail on bullet mode

A week after the inauguration of the high-speed train corridor between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL) has sprung into action.

The company’s office at Asia Bhavan in Delhi’s Dwarka Colony has become active even though it has only 22 employees.

“We are finishing reports on the environment impact assessment and social impact assessment within one and a half months, so that a loan agreement can be signed with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in two months. At present, we have signed a loan agreement for the institute and initial work (Rs 6,000 crore), while for the remaining loan amount an understanding has been reached,” Achal Khare, managing director of NHSRCL, told Business Standard. 

Of the Rs 1.10 lakh crore required for the project, Japan is providing Rs 88,000 crore as soft loan at a minuscule rate of 0.01 per cent. The construction of the High Speed Rail Training Institute on the campus of the National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR) in Vadodara has started.

The company is yet to get the loan but officials say the JICA is providing it as reimbursement of the expenditure. “For the institute, we are following a reimbursement model because we don’t want payments to service providers to be delayed,” Khare said. 

While the government holds a 50 per cent stake in NHSRCL, 25 per cent each is owned by the state governments of Maharashtra and Gujarat. 

During the period of construction, the company will increase its staff strength to 250, and then to 4,000 once the bullet train starts. Of the rail length of 508.17 km, 155.64 km falls in Maharashtra, 350.53 km in Gujarat, and 2 km in Dadra and Nagar Haveli. 

According to the contract, civil works for 450 km will be open for Indian companies. 

“Contracts for areas where Shinkansen technology is required — like signalling, electrical, rolling stocks, and tracks — will be open for only Japanese companies. These companies will train our workers and do it in the Make in India model,” Khare added.

In the initial stage, the route will have 35 trains with 10 coaches each, and subsequently 105 trains by 2053. 

The train will have 12 stations: Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad, and Sabarmati, running at a speed of 320-350 km per hour. 

“We expect to complete the project on August 15, 2022. As the minister is planning I hope India is be able to see high-speed trains on the entire diamond quadrilateral,” Khare added. 

The diamond quadrilateral is a planned high-speed rail network connecting four metro cities, in line with the golden quadrilateral project for roadways.

AT WHAT COST

• 163 villages in eight Gujarat districts, 44 villages in three districts of Maharashtra, and Dadra Nagar Haveli to come under project area
• Nearly 2,761 families to be affected, 1,451 will be displaced
• The initial land requirement was 1,650 hectares, but the NHSRCL cut it short to 825 hectares