The National High Speed ​​Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), which is implementing the country’s first Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, has already submitted detailed project reports (DPRs) of six of the seven high-speed rail corridors to the Ministry of Railways.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced seven high-speed rail corridors to connect major cities. The proposed routes are Mumbai–Pune, Pune–Hyderabad, Hyderabad–Bengaluru, Hyderabad–Chennai, Chennai–Bengaluru, Delhi–Varanasi and Varanasi–Siliguri. These corridors will reduce travel time, reduce pollution and support regional development.

The NHSRCL has already submitted DPR for all routes except Varanasi-Siliguri to the railway ministry. DPRs contain all elements related to projects, such as objectives, scope, methodology, budget and risk assessment.

NHSRCL has been working on these DPRs for the last 2-4 years. However, the decision to sanction any HSR corridor/project depends on many factors including the outcome of the DPR, techno-economic feasibility, availability of resources and financing options.

The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation’s (MoSPI) monthly project monitoring flash report for November 2025 said the corridor has crossed 56% physical progress. According to the report, more than Rs 85,338 crore has been spent so far on the bullet train project, which is estimated to cost around Rs 1.08 crore on completion.

However, the cost of the project has increased to Rs 1.98 lakh crore due to delays in land acquisition, clearances and rolling stock.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had earlier announced that India’s first bullet train will begin its maiden 100 km run between Surat and Vapi in August 2027. The stretch is part of the 508 km Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed corridor. The project is expected to be fully operational by 2029.

Vaishnaw said the travel time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad would come down to 1 hour and 58 minutes once the corridor is ready and trains on the 508 km corridor will run at speeds of up to 320 kmph.