India to sign deal with japan to get its first bullet train

India is set to sign a deal with Japan this week on the country’s first bullet train, with Tokyo financing the bulk of the high-speed-rail project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad through a USD

8 billion loan, a leading Japanese business daily has reported. 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, _The Nikkei _reported. 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 505km railway line, it said. 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 business daily said, citing Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 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 daily added. The Japan International Cooperation Agency and India’s rail ministry began a joint

feasibility study on high-speed rail two years ago. A report recommending the shinkansen format was issued this past July. 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.