New Delhi: In a setback to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bullet train project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, the Maharashtra government has said no to Railways’ plan to build Mumbai station at the proposed site.
Railways plans to build underground Mumbai station at the Bandra-Kurla complex (BKC). The plans were prepared by Japanese consultants, who surveyed all options and zeroed in on this area after speaking with state authorities, according to a report by The Indian Express.
But Railways has been told by the state authorities that the government plans to build a financial centre at the same place. Maharashtra govt did not fudge even after Railways’ emphasis that the station would be underground.
Railway Ministry officials held two rounds of meetings with Maharashtra officials, the chief secretary and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, but the meeting did not yield any result.
According to Indian Express report, Maharashtra government has told Railways that the proposed station would lead to a revenue loss of Rs 10,000 crore for the state.
According to the plans by Railways, it needs only 0.9 hectares to build access to the underground station. But Maharashtra has said that because of the existing building bylaws and rules governing commercial establishments, a significant portion of available 28-hectare land would become inaccessible for the proposed financial centre.
“Once an underground station is built there, we will not be able to build anything on the ground, so the loss of land to us is more than just 0.9 hectares,” U P S Madan, commissioner of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) was quoted by The Indian Express.
Some in the Railways Ministry are mulling to move to Prime Minister Narendra Modi office for a solution or a compromise.
