New Delhi, Jan 25 : The National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) has awarded a contract for procurement and fabrication of 28 steel bridges to L&T-IHI Infrastructure Systems consortium worth Rs 1,390 crore for crossing over railway lines, rivers, highways, roads and other structures for the ambitious 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor, officials said on Monday. An NHSRCL official in a statement said that the contract worth Rs 1,390 crore has been awarded to Larson & Toubro - IHI Infrastructure Systems (consortium), which is a consortium between Indian and Japanese companies. The official said that it is estimated that about 70,000 MT of steel will be used for the fabrication of these steel bridges and Indian steel industries and their allied supply chains will get a big boost. Indian steel manufactures will be providing quality steel for the fabrication of super structures for these steel bridges. NHSRCL has already sensitised the Indian steel industries to cater to such a huge demand for India's first high speed rail corridor. In December last year, a total of eight bidders had participated in the bid and only four qualified after technical evaluation. Among the four bidders were Tata Projects Ltd, Afcons Infrastructure Ltd, NCC Ltd and L&T-IHI Infrastructure Systems Consortium. The NHSRCL has already awarded civil contracts for the construction of 64 per cent of MAHSR alignment which includes five HSR stations at Vapi, Billimora, Surat, Bharuch, Anand/Nadiad, train depot at Surat and one mountain tunnel of 350 metres. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe had on September 14, 2017 laid the foundation stone for the ambitious Rs 1.08 lakh crore ($17 billion) project. The initial deadline to complete the project is December 2023. The bullet trains are expected to run at 320 km per hour covering the 508-km stretch in about two hours. In comparison, trains currently plying on the route take over seven hours to travel the distance, whereas flights take about an hour. /IANS