National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd, which is setting up the Rs 1 lakh cr Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail service, has brought on Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB) as key partner for the project.
GIDB — which is also involved in the prestigious GIFT City project — will also pump in equity into the corporation and help in the execution, railway ministry sources said.
At present, Indian Railways holds 50% of the equity of National High Speed Rail Corporation with the two state governments holding half each of the remaining.
The primary role of the GIDB will be to help the corporation acquire the land required for the rail project.
In addition, it will also be responsible for promoting development around the planned railway stations on the route and for integrating various modes of transport — such as buses — with the project.
GIDB is in many ways the prime agency for carrying out large-scale development projects in the state. Set up in 1995, it has been involved in projects such as the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor, the Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad Metro and the Dahej Petrochem & Petroleum Investment Region.
It works on a public-private-partnership model by involving private companies in its development projects.
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail project is being largely funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, which will finance 81% of the project’s Rs 97,636 cr bill via a 50-year loan at an interest rate of 0.1% per year.