India's first bullet train project may face delay due to land acquisition and the present Covid situation.The railways has also said a "real timeframe" for the completion of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train plan has to be "reassessed" as the land acquisition for the project has been delayed and a clear timeline can be provided in next three to six months.
In a linear project like the bullet train, work can only begin when a certain amount of land is available.
As the Covid situation improves, the Railways can start the bidding process and within the next three to six months, they will get the status of land acquired. It will then be the appropriate time to reassess the project.
Due to the pandemic, international travel was banned. Such projects require a lot of survey and hence Japanese companies could not participate.
Even before the pandemic, the project had been hit hard due to protests from farmers in both Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Hope the railways manage to open at least a portion of the project by August 2022, which they hope to do to coincide with 75 years of Independence.
