Japanese PM Shinzo Abe's India visit begins today; Rs 98,000 crore bullet train deal to be signed

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to sign a deal with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo on the country’s first bullet train, with Tokyo financing the bulk of the high-speed rail project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad through a Rs 98,000 crore loan.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to sign a deal with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the country’s first bullet train, with Tokyo financing the bulk of the high-speed rail project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad through a Rs 98,000 crore loan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe will issue a joint statement on the deal on Saturday during latter’s visit to India.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's three- day India visit will begin here Friday during which he will hold annual summit talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

Abe will convey an offer of more than USD 8.1 billion in official Japanese lending for the roughly USD 14.6 billion project to link Mumbai and Ahmedabad with 505 km railway line.

A deal with India would be the second successful case of Japan exporting its bullet train technology to a foreign market, following a deal with Taiwan in 2007.

Japan failed to win a high-speed train deal in Indonesia earlier this year, losing out to a Chinese proposal.

India ranked as the second-biggest recipient of Japanese government-backed yen loans as of fiscal 2013, with a running total of 4.45 trillion yen.

The railway loan deal could propel it ahead of the largest borrower, Indonesia, which had a 4.72 trillion yen tally.

Once India decides to adopt Japanese train technology, it will hold a tender for contracts. A consortium including JR East, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Hitachi is expected to bid.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency and India’s rail ministry began a joint feasibility study on high-speed rail two years ago.

With trains zipping along at up to 320 kph, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad railway is expected to shorten travel time between the two western Indian cities from around eight hours to roughly two.

Construction is supposed to begin in 2017, with completion slated for 2023. India has plans for seven high-speed rail corridors, starting with this one.

With Agency Inputs