New Delhi: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) said in a statement on Monday that the Ministry of Railways and MoHUA have signed an agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for ‘Station Area Development along Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail’ (Project-SMART). The Ministry further noted that the MoU was signed for four High-Speed Rail Stations including, Sabarmati, Surat in Gujarat and Virar and Thane in Maharashtra, out of 12 stations in-route. “Surat, Virar, and Thane are Greenfield while Sabarmati is a Brownfield development,” it added.
Highlighting the importance of the project, the statement said, Project-SMART envisages developing surrounding areas of Mumbai – Ahmedabad High-Speed Railway (MAHSR) stations to enhance accessibility and convenience of commuters and other stakeholders and to promote economic activities in the vicinity of station areas. The project would facilitate and enhance the institutional capacity of state governments, municipal corporations, and urban development authorities to plan, develop and manage surrounding areas of MAHSR stations.
The MoHUA, state governments, and JICA are organising a series of seminars and field visits for Project–SMART in Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai, the statement said. Further, the first seminar series was organised on Monday at Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi wherein officers from Japan Embassy, JICA HQ, JICA India Office, JICA experts’ team, Ministry of Railways, National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited, MoHUA, TCPO participated.
“The deliberations of the seminars would contribute to the preparation of ‘Station Area Development Plans’ for Sabarmati, Surat, Virar and Thane HSR Stations and model handbook, containing experiences and methodologies adopted in Japan, India and other countries for Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and Station Area Development,” it added.
