New Delhi: The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and Ministry of Railways (MoR) jointly signed an MoU with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for ‘Station Area Development along Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail’ (Project-SMART).

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 institutional capacity of State Governments, Municipal Corporations and Urban Development Authorities to plan, develop and manage surrounding areas of MAHSR stations. The MoU was inked for four High Speed Rail Stations - Sabarmati, Surat in Gujarat and Virar and Thane in Maharashtra. Out of 12 stations in-route, Surat, Virar and Thane are green fields while Sabarmati is a brown field development.

MoHUA, Governments of Gujarat, Maharashtra and JICA are organizing a series of seminars and field visits for the Project–SMART in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The first seminar of the series was organized at Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi on 8th May, 2023 wherein officers from Japan Embassy, JICA HQ, JICA India Office, JICA experts’ team, Ministry of Railway, National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited, MoHUA, and TCPO deliberated.

The deliberations of the seminars would contribute in 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. /BI/