Even as the Maharashtra and the central governments are yet to arrive at a consensus over handing over land for the proposed bullet train project, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) on July 11, 2016, announced that it has received three bids for preparing a master plan for an International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC).
The MMRDA has received bids from a consortium of Tata Consulting Engineers and Townland Consultants of Hong Kong; INI Design Studio of Ahmedabad, and Ramboll and Henning Larsen Architects of Denmark, the state-run planning agency said.
The Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra, is pushing for the IFSC at BKC, to make the state a global financial hub. The bidders will prepare a master plan for the project, MMRDA said.
IFSC versus bullet train
The IFSC project came under controversy, over the location of originating station of the proposed Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train that will cost nearly Rs 1 trillion, most of which will be funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
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The Railways has proposed to construct an underground station for the showpiece bullet train at the spot in BKC, where the state has identified 50 acres for the IFSC. The bullet train project needs under 20 acres of this, for its underground station.
The state government however, has been reluctant to provide the land, having planned the IFSC on the vacant land in the business district located in suburbs. Officials from the Railways, Maharashtra and the MMRDA, have held meetings to break the stalemate but there has been no solution.
