dna exclusive: Fadnavis wants proposed bullet train terminal shifted from BKC

In a fresh twist to the deadlock between the Centre and state over construction of a bullet train terminal at Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) land at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has proposed to that the terminal can be shifted to either Matunga or Kanjurmarg as the proposed slot has to be used for construction of the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). The Centre, however, has so far neither accepted nor rejected the proposal.

Highly placed sources in the department said in the second week of March Fadnavis wrote a letter to the railway ministry requesting it to shift the location to either of the two spots as railways has ample land to construct a terminal at those locations. Fadnavis, in his letter, also said the proposal be considered as terminal construction at the proposed MMRDA land at BKC will cause great financial losses to the authority.

The bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad is a pet project of prime minister Narendra Modi, which has been stuck for a while now with the MMRDA opposing the location of the underground station at BKC.

Earlier in February, Fadnavis claimed that the row over allotment of land can be resolved soon with the Indian Railways' willingness to go underground to build the facility. "The railways told me that they would go underground for the bullet train project and hence will not put the above land to any use. The central and state governments will resolve this issue very soon," he told the media at the concluding function of Make in India Week at BKC.

However, later, the state government even opposed it saying that the underground bullet train station would require a much bigger area. Hence, it was decided at a meeting of the MMRDA, Transport and other senior officials that the ministry of railways be asked to consider another site for the station.

"Besides, the area that the proposed IFC would cover, will also include a multi-level underground car parking. Apart from this, IFC could come up in a relative short duration, but it would take time for the bullet train to start generating revenue," said a senior officer.

In January this year, the railway ministry fast-tracked the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. The high-speed rail corridor costing Rs90,000 crore will also have equity participation from Maharashtra and Gujarat. The top speed on this corridor will be 350 kmph. The halts on the route include Thane, Virar, Dahanu, Lonavala, Valsad, Vapi, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodra, Anand or Nadiad and Ahmedabad.