Just a few days before Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is due in India for an official visit from Dec. 11-13, Japan has beat out China to win the contract to build India’s first bullet train.
The train tracks will be built between the cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad, a 500 km (310 mi) route, and will cost about $14.6 billion. Abe is expected to offer to lend more than $8.1 billion of the total. Indian officials have said that their decision was based on the “easy and affordable” financing terms offered by Japan. China, meanwhile, is conducting feasibility studies on longer high speed rail tracks between Chennai and Delhi and New Delhi and Mumbai.
The rail deal will come with an exclusive yen loan program that will help to support Japanese companies in India and Japanese-Indian collaborations. One condition will require project contracts to use at least 30 percent Japanese-made materials.
