India’s much-hyped bullet train project, pitched as a symbol of “New India’s” speed, is crawling towards its destination. The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited says the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) corridor will be ready by 2027—at least the Gujarat stretch. The rest of the line, from Bandra Kurla Complex to Sabarmati, is now promised by December 2029.
This is not the first time the deadline has shifted. Back in 2024, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told the media that the first section between Surat and Bilimora would start in mid-2026. The plan then was to open one section after another. But in Parliament this Monsoon session, the minister admitted what has been obvious to anyone tracking the project—it is running behind schedule.
The official explanation? Land acquisition delays in Maharashtra, which, according to Vaishnaw, held up work until 2021. Only after that did the state “pick up” the pace, and now, he says,
“All 1,389.5 hectares needed for the project have been acquired.”
The minister also pointed out that statutory clearances for wildlife, forest, and coastal regulation have been secured, all civil contracts awarded, and utilities shifted.
On the ground, the picture is mixed. In Maharashtra, foundation work is happening at Thane, Virar, and Boisar stations, while the massive excavation at BKC station is almost done. In Gujarat, 16 river bridges are complete and work on five more—including Narmada and Tapti—is in advanced stages. Maharashtra has four bridges still in progress.
Depots at Thane, Surat, and Sabarmati are being built. Gujarat’s only tunnel is ready, and the undersea tunnel has begun—4 km of the planned 21 km between Ghansoli and Shilphata is done.
But here’s the question that no official press release will answer: when a project that was sold as the pinnacle of India’s infrastructure ambition keeps pushing deadlines, what does it really signal—technical complexity, political grandstanding, or misplaced priorities?
