Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that the State government would prioritise the Mumbai-Nagpur bullet train project instead of Mumbai–Ahmedabad line.

He said that the State government had always demanded that connecting Mumbai to Nagpur is more important than linking Mumbai to Ahmedabad. Funded by a soft loan from Japan, the ₹1-trillion Mumbai-Ahmedabad project with a track length of 508 km is stuck in political wrangling.

Thackeray, who was in Aurangabad to attend a series of functions, told reporters, “ Instead of Mumbai- Ahmedabad, our demand is to start a bullet train from Mumbai to Nagpur. If the central government takes this initiative, the State government will extend its full support”. Earlier, addressing a function in the presence of Union Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Patil Danve, the Chief Minister said, “ If you are going to take the initiative for Mumbai–Nagpur bullet train, the State government will strongly stand with you. I am with you on this project”.

The Modi government has been keen to complete the Mumbai–Ahmedabad bullet train project by August 15, 2022, when India marks 75 years of Independence. However, the project work is stuck with the State and the Centre disagreeing on various terms.

Of the total length, 155.76 km is in Maharashtra, 348.04 km in Gujarat and 4.3 km in Dadra and Nagar Haveli. When Thackeray took charge as Chief Minister in 2019 he had made it clear that the bullet train project was not on the priority list of the State government. He had likened the train project to a ‘white elephant’.

Now, once again Chief Minister Thackeray has sent a clear signal that the State government is in no mood to cooperate with the Centre for PM’s dream project.

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