Land acquisition for bullet train project in state almost complete: Gujarat govt

“Out of a total of 736 hectares of private land that was to be acquired in the state, only 6.6 hectares is pending. Those pending are small plots in Surat, Vadodara, Navsari, Bharuch and Ahmedabad districts. The acquisition process will be completed within a month or so,” he added. The first notifications for the acquisition of land for this project was issued by the revenue department in January 2018.

The land acquisition in Kheda, Anand, Valsad districts are 100 percent complete, the official said.
According to National High-Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRCL), a total of Rs 5,707 crore has been paid as compensation to 6,110 project affected persons (PAPs) in Gujarat, as on January 31, 2022.

The earlier deadline set by the Government of India for completion of land acquisition for the entire bullet train project — involving a total of 1,025 hectares of private land and 145 hectares of government land — was December 2018.

The NHSRCL said the construction of bullet train corridor in Gujarat was progressing in all the eight districts of the state which includes construction of pillars for the elevated corridor in Navsari and Valsad districts, construction of Surat station and Sabarmati terminal hub and construction of bridges over Narmada and Mahi rivers.

While the acquisition of 7.9 hectares of land in the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli that falls on the route has also been fully completed, the acquisition in Maharashtra has been lagging.

Of the 336 hectares of private and government land needed for the project in Maharashtra, a total of 256 hectares has been acquired as on January 31, 2022. This includes 56.13 hectares of government land.
In addition to the compensation paid in Gujarat, NHSRCL has paid Rs 2,110 crore to 1,572 project affected persons in Maharashtra.

The land acquisition process in suburban Mumbai is yet to begin. None of the 3.92 hectares of private land and 0.9 hectares of government land has been acquired as of January 31, 2022, NHSRCL stated.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe had laid the foundation stone for the Rs 1.1 lakh crore project at Sabarmati in Ahmedabad in September 2017.