(CNN) Six million people could be affected by hurricane-strength Tropical Cyclone Vayu, which is barreling toward northwest India and will skirt the coastline of Gujarat beginning Thursday morning.

Almost 300,000 people are set to be evacuated to 700 shelter homes, a spokesperson for India's Home Ministry said Wednesday. Schools and colleges in the area are closed until Friday, officials said.

With winds of 170 kph (100 mph), Tropical Cyclone Vayu could become the strongest cyclone to strike northwestern India in decades. It comes a month after powerful Tropical Cyclone Fani slammed into India's northeastern coast.

Vayu passed about 300 kilometers (185 miles) west of Mumbai on Wednesday, moving north toward the Gujarat coastline.

The forecast calls for the storm to turn west, which could keep the center of the storm just offshore over the next 48 hours as it moves parallel to the Saurashtra Peninsula and Kutch district of Gujarat.