Cleared hurdles in Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project: Maharashtra CM

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said his administration has removed all obstacles that held up the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project during the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

Shinde made this statement during the meeting of the Niti Ayog Governing Council here.

"My government has removed all obstacles from the ambitious national scheme, Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet Train, which were pending in the last government's tenure," Shinde said.

He said the Shiv Sena-BJP government had also resolved the Aarey land dispute for the Metro Car Shed and mobilised the Metro projects.

"A 337-km-long metro network is being developed in Mumbai, Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Thane which is a network bigger than in Europe," Shinde said.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad semi-high speed railway, popularly known as the bullet train, is a showpiece project of the Modi government. It had run into delays during the MVA government led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray owing to problems in land acquisition for the project.

Thackeray had criticised the high-profile project, and questioned its benefits.

The chief minister said the state was making great strides in improving transportation infrastructure such as the Mumbai-Nagpur expressway, Nagpur-Goa Shaktipeeth Expressway and the Virar-Alibaug Multi-modal corridor.

"I am pleased to inform you that the state has made significant progress in implementing the Gati Shakti Master Plan," Shinde said.

He said under this plan, the state has created an institutional setup in line with the Centre with three tiers -- Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS), Network Planning Group (NPG) and Technical Support Unit (TSU).