Nagpur: The Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has triggered sharp resentment in Maharashtra after completely ignoring the Nagpur–Mumbai high-speed rail corridor, despite years of preparatory work, official assurances and public expenditure on surveys and planning.
While the Budget announced multiple new high-speed rail corridors—Mumbai–Pune, Pune–Hyderabad, Hyderabad–Chennai, Chennai–Bengaluru and Delhi–Varanasi—the conspicuous omission of the Nagpur–Mumbai corridor has left rail users, experts and citizens asking uncomfortable questions: Why was a Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared at all if the project was never meant to see the light of day? And who will be held accountable for the time and public money spent?
Gold Rate
02 Feb 2026
The exclusion is particularly baffling because groundwork for the Nagpur–Mumbai bullet train had begun as early as January 2021. Extensive surveys—including aerial LiDAR mapping, ridership studies, environmental and social impact assessments—were carried out over nearly ten months. These were not cosmetic exercises but comprehensive technical evaluations meant to pave the way for Cabinet approval.
Based on these surveys, the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) prepared a DPR and submitted it to the Railway Board. In early 2022, then Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Danve publicly stated in Nagpur that the DPR would be finalised and sent to the Railway Ministry by March that year. He also clarified that the corridor would largely run parallel to the Samruddhi Mahamarg, require only 30 per cent land acquisition, and be mostly elevated—addressing concerns of farmers and minimising displacement.
Senior NHSRCL officials had also confirmed that surveys were complete and the DPR was in its final stage. Had the process moved forward as promised, the project could have secured approvals from the Railway Ministry and the Union Cabinet, setting the stage for actual construction. Instead, the project has quietly vanished from policy priority—without explanation.
The silence is glaring when juxtaposed with the Budget’s aggressive push for high-speed corridors elsewhere. For Nagpur, Vidarbha and large parts of Maharashtra, this is not merely an omission—it is a policy snub, reinforcing long-standing allegations of regional neglect.
The proposed Nagpur–Mumbai corridor was planned over a 741–766 km stretch, with stations at Nagpur, Wardha, Pulgaon, Jalna, Aurangabad, Shirdi, Nashik and Shahapur among others. Designed for speeds of up to 350 kmph, the trains would have carried 750 passengers, cutting travel time between Nagpur and Mumbai to just 3.5 hours—a potential game-changer for economic integration and regional growth.
According to the DPR, the project’s estimated cost stood at ₹232 crore per kilometre, a figure comparable with other high-speed rail projects now receiving Budget backing. Yet, despite meeting technical, logistical and strategic benchmarks, the Nagpur–Mumbai bullet train has been effectively shelved without transparency.
As the Centre celebrates new corridors, Maharashtra—particularly Vidarbha—is left grappling with unanswered questions, broken assurances and the uncomfortable reality that years of planning may have been reduced to nothing more than paperwork gathering dust.
