NEW DELHI, June 2 (Xinhua) -- India's Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project has hit a land acquisition hurdle as locals are refusing to give their land for the ambitious plan, local newspaper Economic Times reported Saturday.
The resistance is being shown by villagers from local communities and tribals in Palghar district of Maharashtra.
"More than 70 tribal villages of Palghar district in Maharashtra have refused to give land for the project and an agitation is building up against the proposed rail corridor that will pass through these villages," the newspaper report said.
The construction for India's first high-speed train project, the 508 km long train corridor, was to begin in January 2019 and the deadline for land acquisition was the end of this year.
The 110 km of the corridor is passing through Palghar district.
The 14.6 billion-U.S. dollar project connecting the capitals of Maharashtra and Gujarat is expected to be constructed by August 2022.
Authorities however are hopeful to resolve the stand-off and begin the work on scheduled time.
"We are facing resistance in some parts of Maharashtra but are hopeful that the construction of the project will begin as per our timeline. We are offering five times the circle rate of land as compensation to people whose land is being acquired," the newspaper quoting a railway ministry official said.
Indian Railways is acquiring around 1,400 hectares of land for the project.
The Indian government has already started getting funds from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the land acquisition has begun in some parts of Mumbai.?