“Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project to be of national importance and public interest project”, declared the Bombay High Court. The petition was filed by Godrej & Boyce challenging the acquisition proceedings for the bullet train project in Vikhroli has been dismissed today.The Maharashtra government and NHSRCL had claimed that the company was delaying the whole project of public importance. A division bench of Justice RD Dhanuka and Justice MM Sathaye on Thursday observed that the project is one of its kind and is in collective public interest over private interests.Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company Limited had filed a petition challenging an order dated September 15, 2022, passed by the Maharashtra government for land acquisition for the bullet train project. It had termed as illegal the land acquisition proceedings initiated by the state government and claimed that several more patent illegalities were pointed out in it.The bench, however, said it did not find any illegality in the award of compensation or in the proceedings initiated by the authorities. They added that they do not find any illegality in the compensation. It is the overriding collective interest which shall prevail and not the private interest.The company has not made out any case for the court to exercise its powers and hence no interference is required. Now the court bench has refused to hear in this matter.Know more about Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train ProjectThe Mumbai–Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor is an under-construction high-speed rail line connecting Indias economic hub Mumbai to the city of Ahmedabad. Upon completion, it will be Indias first high-speed rail line. Along with five other high-speed rail corridors, it was introduced in the 2009–2010 Rail Budget. A 650 km long high-speed rail corridor was proposed to run from Pune to Mumbai via Ahmedabad. The proposed stations included Lonavala on the Mumbai-Pune section and Surat, Bharuch and Vadodara on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad section. It proposed 32 services between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Railway officials had also proposed to extend the corridor up to Bengaluru.
