India Plans Major Expansion of High-Speed Rail Amid Bullet Train Cost Overruns

India's Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project has seen its cost rise to nearly Rs 1.98 lakh crore, mainly due to land acquisition delays, with the Railways planning to cover about Rs 90,000 crore of the overrun through budgetary support without seeking additional loans. The government has approved seven new high-speed rail corridors totaling around 4,000 km, with an estimated investment of Rs 16 lakh crore, aiming to expand the network to 7,000 km by 2039-40 and up to 21,000 km in the long term, reflecting an ambitious national high-speed rail expansion plan.