Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurate an indigenously designed and manufactured equipment to expedite the construction of high speed rail corridor for Mumbai-Ahmedabad. The project is behind schedule for multiple reasons including the pandemic and land-acquisition issue.
More than 97 per cent land has been acquired for the project in Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and 30 per cent land in Maharashtra.
L&T has partnered with 55 Micro-Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) for the project.“ This will expedite construction of high speed railway (HSR), as is the proven technology in metro and similar projects. Work has already begun on 325 km (in Gujarat) out of 508 km corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad,”
Addressing the gathering through video conferencing from Delhi, Vaishnaw said that with this, India is now coming in the select group of countries like Italy, Norway, Korea and China, which have been designing and manufacturing such equipment.
This project will also improve the skill set in various rail construction technologies. Japanese counterparts will provide training to National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited employees and also to contractors. More than 6,000 workers are already working at various construction sites for the project, thus creating employment opportunities for the local youth,” he said.
The span launching equipment-Straddle Carrier and Girder Transporter of 1,100 MT capacity has been indigenously designed and manufactured by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) at Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, officials said.