These mega projects, which are expected to be completed simultaneously within seven to ten years, must have been allotted a minimum capital outlay of ₹1,00,000 crore.

Yet, this year's budget allocation of  ₹36,000 crore (against  ₹33,000 crore actual in 2024-25) under “New Line Construction” is not even sufficient to commence the preliminary works for the announced projects.

If these proposed HSR corridors (along with the 508 Km Ahmedabad-Mumbai HSR project) can be completed in less than a decade, the country would be second only to China, with 4500+ km operational HSR route length.

Collateral Benefits

High-speed rail brings in substantial collateral benefits. As demand for smarter, greener mobility grows, it provides fast, reliable, comfortable, and sustainable travel that meets evolving passenger expectations.

International Union of Railways (UIC) highlights HSR corridors as a sustainable, integrated transport system that excels in energy efficiency, passenger appeal, and socio-economic contributions.

Key benefits include lower GHG emissions (8x more efficient than planes), commercial success via high ridership growth, regional development, and competition that boosts service quality.

As per the Ministry of Railway sources and other collated information, the seven HSR projects will substantially reduce travel time to :

However, 4,500-km HSR projects, though critically needed, are not aspirational. Given the country’s demography, the demands of rapid economic growth, and the requirement for fast-track, low-carbon green mobility, the country needs to build at least 25,000 km of HSR corridors by 2050, if not more. 

The Way Forward

Though the announcement of seven HSR corridors has set the tone for infrastructure priorities for the decades to come, the following key details are not known yet:

• Alignment and the length of each corridor.
• Status of corridor-wise Detailed Project Reports (DPR)
• Estimated corridor-wise project cost
• Projected project completion timeframe
• Funding Structure
• Technology details
• Execution strategy

What we know so far:

• Total combined length of the HSR projects: 4,000+ km
• Combined project cost: ₹16,000 crore
• Seven corridors will be simultaneously constructed

Old Wine In New Bottle?

Mamata Banerjee, as the Union Minister of Railways, first announced the establishment of the National High Speed Rail Authority in the 2010-11 Railway Budget speech on February 24, 2010, proposing six HSR corridors at 250-350 kmph as a catalyst for India’s economic growth.

Some of the challenges that the previous HSR projects faced were:

• Delay in land acquisition
• Cooperation of beneficiary State governments
• A near double cost increase
• Fast indigenisation of frontier technologies

Sooner Than Later

Bharat has been more than six decades behind in developing an HSR network. For the uninitiated, the first such network, Japan’s Tokaido Shinkansen (the Bullet Train), connecting Tokyo and Osaka (515 km), opened on October 1, 1964. 

Also, UIC estimates that a 54,000 to 65,000-km HSR network will be globally operational in 2026: 

Japan, France, and Germany initiated the HSR revolution, while China started late, and yet emerged as a world leader in both operational HSR networks and speed. Spain has the largest HSR network in Europe and is further expanding rapidly. South Korea has domestically engineered HSR trains to run at 370 kmph speed and is expected to increase its network quickly.

Execution Lessons

For India, if seven HSR projects have to be simultaneously completed within 10 years, it must take a cue particularly from Japan, besides France, Spain, and China:

Japan, France, and Germany were pioneers who independently developed indigenous HSR systems. China and Spain both initially relied on foreign technology, but soon mastered it.

China is now the global leader in HSR corridors. Spain has the longest system in Europe and is expanding rapidly. Also, South Korea has, in four years, indigenously developed a high-speed train with a designed speed of 405 km/h and an operational speed of 370 km/h.

India has the ecosystem to accelerate the indigenisation of HSR technology. Learning from other global powers involves quickly absorbing technology, adhering to rigorous standards, and adapting, rather than blindly copying to achieve self-reliance.

Funding

The Ahmedabad-Mumbai HSR project initially had an estimated cost of ₹1.08 lakh crore. The revised cost is ₹1.98 lakh crore, with the project only 55% complete. The initial funding structure relied heavily on a soft loan from Japan's JICA, covering 81% (₹88,087 crores at 0.1% interest over 50 years), with the balance split between Indian government equity (₹10,000 crore) and contributions from States such as Gujarat and Maharashtra. 

While many reasons are cited for cost escalation, the one often overlooked is that the JICA loan was a tied loan requiring the mandatory purchase of Japanese goods, services, and technology—mainly Shinkansen systems.

Announcing the seven HSR projects was the easy part. What lies ahead is reimagining the execution paradigm, substantial reduction of project cost by indigenisation (and applying learning from the Ahmedabad Mumbai HSR project), and total rethinking of the way the project must be funded.

(The writer is a former civil servant. Views are personal.)