mumbai

Updated: Feb 07, 2018 10:22 IST

A provision of Rs7,000 crore has been made for the ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed bullet train project in Union Budget 2018, railway officials revealed at a press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday. Another Rs778 crore has been allocated for the city’s transport projects, including the new Mumbai Urban Transport Project-3A (MUTP-3A).

Budget documents released by the railway ministry on Tuesday show that Rs7,000 crore has been allocated for the bullet train project through “extra-budgetary resources”.

The bullet train is expected to cover the 504-km distance between the two cities in less than three hours. The Indian Railways is planning to complete the project by 2022.The foundation stone for the project was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on September 14, 2017.

As per the documents, the railways has also made a provision of more than Rs600 crore for different phases of the MUTP — Rs169.61 crore for the ongoing MUTP-2 and Rs519.05 crore for the MUTP-3 projects.

A token provision of Rs1 crore has also been made for the newly proposed MUTP-3A, which bundles together all of Mumbai’s major future projects. The total cost of MUTP-3A is estimated to be Rs55,000 crore.

In January, Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis and Union railway minister Piyush Goyal decided to bundle together all major projects, including the CSMT-Panvel elevated corridor, under MUTP-3A. Railway officials on Tuesday pointed out that the provision for MUTP-3A, even if it is a token amount, is significant as it indicates that in the future it will get regular funding from the Budget.

The budget has also allocated Rs73 crore for the Belapur-Seawoods-Uran line, Rs14 crore for running 12-coach trains on the harbour line, and Rs1 crore for additional lines between Pune and Lonavla.

This is the second budget since the railway and Union budgets have been merged.