Giving a big boost to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, the railway budget has allocated Rs 5,600 crore for the project like last year. Besides, the project is likely to get Rs 5,000 crore as contribution in the form of equity share of Gujarat and Maharashtra governments and loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency, up from Rs 1,000 crore last year. While FM Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the Centre will actively pursue the project, CM Uddhav Thackeray recently termed it a white elephant.
A National High Speed Rail Corporation official said, “A total of Rs 5,600 crore has been allocated to NHSRCL for 2020-21. An amount of Rs 5,000 crore has also been allotted as estimated investment through Extra Budgetary Resources (through equity from the two states and loan reimbursement from JICA).”