Bullet train to be five years late, Japan not interested

- Japanese companies do not bid on tenders

New Delhi Dated 5th September 2020 Saturday

More than one rubble was encountered on the way of the bullet train running between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. An English newspaper report said that no Japanese company would come forward to fill the tender issued by India as it would cost a lot to set up a bullet train.

Japanese companies were reluctant to bid as the bullet train seemed to cost more than expected. In view of this problem, the Railways had hoped that the Bullet Train project would be completed by 2028. Earlier the completion date of this project was 2023 but now the circumstances have changed.

Talking about the delays in the bullet train project, an Indian Railways official said, "If the obstacles in the way of the bullet train project are removed, the project may be completed a little earlier." The official added that the 2028 deadline had been announced after discussions with the Japanese team helping with the bullet train.

It may be recalled here that the high-speed bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad was being implemented on the basis of an 80 per cent loan from Japan. The loan was given to Japan at an interest rate of one per cent for fifteen years.

The central government had planned to run a bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad based on the Shinkasen bullet train technique. The plan of the Modi government was to present this plan to the nation on the Independence Day of 2022. But there were constant obstacles in the way of this project.

The biggest obstacle was the underground corridor. Our plan was that 21 kilometers of the bullet train corridor would be underground and about seven kilometers would pass under the sea. Japan showed no interest in the underwater corridor.