NEW DELHI: The cost of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train has been revised to around Rs 2.1 lakh crore, nearly double the original cost of approximately Rs 1.1 lakh crore. The proposal to seek approval for the revised cost of the 508-km high-speed rail line was placed before the Cabinet Tuesday, TOI has learnt.Sources said the railway ministry has cited the time taken in land acquisition in Maharashtra and delay in getting the train sets from Japan as among the main reasons for the cost escalation. They added the project is likely to be completed in 2030 and the first leg of the corridor is scheduled to be operational in Aug 2027.
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Sources said most of the additional funding would come from budgetary support. So far, the funding of Rs 1.1 lakh crore has been from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and budgetary allocation. They added that Railways has said high-speed trains will be manufactured in India and each of these would cost around Rs 390 crore to Rs 400 crore. There was no official briefing on the decisions of the Cabinet meeting chaired by PM Narendra Modi.In Jan, railway board chairperson Satish Kumar had said the project cost had increased by around 83% to Rs 1.98 lakh crore. The project has faced time and cost overruns due to many reasons, including delay in land acquisition, statutory clearances and finalisation of the trains.
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