GIFT City may lose edge over Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail: Expert

GIFT City has been envisaged by Modi as an alternative financial centre to Mumbai at Gandhinagar

Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe kick off the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail project from Sabarmati station on Thursday, it could lead to Modi’s pet project, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) City, lose its competitive edge as an upcoming financial centre, say experts.

According to G Raghuram, director of Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, the rise in connectivity could result in commercial activities getting centralised to the larger centre.

“Due to rise in connectivity (resulting from the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail project), certain activities tend to get centralised. So, if Mumbai is already