In the Railway Budget 2014-15, it was announced to undertake planning of high speed rail connectivity on Diamond Quadrilateral network connecting major metros and growth centres of the country. Accordingly, Ministry of Railways has undertaken feasibility studies for some routes namely Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Kolkata, Mumbai-Chennai, Mumbai-Nagpur and Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysuru. However, being highly capital intensive, the sanction of any High Speed Rail Project depends on several factors such as technical feasibility, financial viability and availability of financing options.

Till now, Government has sanctioned Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) Project with technical and financial assistance of Government of Japan. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) namely National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) has been formed to implement this project. This project is targetted for completion by the year 2023. The cost escalation compared to the cost indicated in Feasibility Study, if any, cannot be ascertained at this stage, as most of the Contract Packages are still to be finalised. As of now, the project is progressing satisfactorily.

This information was given by the Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

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SG/MKV