NASHIK: Four days after MP Hemant Godse raised the issue of the proposed Nashik-Pune Semi High Speed Railway project at the Parliament, the Railway Board has organised a presentation of the railway route project on Monday (December 20) at the railway board conference hall in New Delhi, informed by MP Hemant Godse who has been following up the project for the last five years. The proposal is in the final stage, he said yesterday.
For the last six months, the proposal for Nashik-Pune semi high-speed railway line has been under consideration for final approval at the Central level for its speedy implementation. Nashik, Pune, and Mumbai are the golden triangle of development. The major cities of Mumbai and Pune have been connected by rail for many years now.
However, the development of Nashik could not progress on the expected line due to the lack of rail connectivity between Nashik and Pune. For the last five years, MP Godse has been making efforts for the Nashik-Pune rail line. Three years ago, he had raised a voice in Parliament and sanctioned Rs 2 crore for the survey work of the project. The survey of this proposal is nearing completion today.
Since the final proposal of Nashik-Pune railway has been pending with the Centre for the last six months, Godse had raised his voice in Parliament four days ago. Following this, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has taken note of this and has organised a presentation of the project. The presentation will be held on December 20 at the railway board conference hall in New Delhi. The Railway Board has sent an official letter to all the concerned departments in this regard.
The project has already been approved by the State government. However, due to the lack of final approval of the Central government, the project work has not been started yet.
The Railway Board, as well as the State and Centre, have approved the proposal of the Nashik-Pune railway line. The railway line will cost Rs. 16,000 crore, out of which Rs. 3,500 crore will be allocated by the State government and equivalent Rs. 3,500 crore by the central government. About Rs. 9,000 crore will be raised through equity.
The state has sanctioned 20 per cent of their share of the funds required for the project and the issue of equity funding has been resolved. However, the project proposal has been pending with the Centre for final approval for the last six months.
