Eight years in the pipeline

Feb 13, 2009: Railways minister Lalu Prasad recommended a pre-feasibility study to introduce a high-speed bullet train service on six routes including Mumbai-Ahmedabad in his budget speech

Dec 31, 2012: In an year-end review, the ministry of railways announced it has identified seven corridors for conducting pre-feasibility studies

May 30, 2013: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe laid down the course for introducing high-speed railway systems in India July, 19, 2013: PM Manmohan Singh, while addressing the 92nd annual general meeting of ASSOCHAM, reiterated the ongoing feasibility study

January 27, 2014: Reports suggested that Japan offered to set up a joint venture to finance bullet train projects in

the country

July, 8, 2014: Railway minister Sadananda Gowda proposed the first bullet train on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route in the 2014-15 budget session

July 21, 2015: The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) submitted the feasibility study, estimating the ambitious project would cost ₹98,000 crore December 12, 2015: India and Japan signed an MoU on cooperation and assistance in the project. Japan offered to finance over ₹79,000 crore for it

March 1, 2016: The ministry of railways formed a new special purpose vehicle — National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited — to implement the bullet train April 29, 2016: In a press release, the ministry of railways announced the sanctioning of the project at total completion cost of ₹97,636 crore