Just days before the Railway Budget, the government gave its go ahead for setting of National High Speed Rail Corporation that would oversee the construction and operation the bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

The company, which will be implementing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet project, will be under the Indian Railways. It will be a 50:50 joint venture between the Centre and the States – Gujarat and Maharashtra. The authorised capital of the project will be ₹20,000 crore, said sources.

Earlier this year, Japan had signed a MoU for providing low-cost, long-term funding for the project. Land acquisition can be completed in two years, say officials. Also, the contract work of pre-qualification etc, can be done simultaneously. According to an official statement, the project is a 508-km line costing ₹97,636 crore. The project is to be implemented in a seven-year period. For the Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR Project, Shinkansen technology will be used, for which Japanese high speed technology will be adopted.

Japan has offered an assistance of over ₹79,000 crore. The loan is for a period of 50 years with 15 years moratorium at an interest rate of 0.1 per cent. Japan’s cooperation for this project will also be fixed on transfer of technology and ‘Make in India’.

Japan will assist India in training the personnel for high speed rail.

However, there are mixed views over the project.

Several experts including the Railway unions have questioned the high cost of the project. “This country does not require bullet trains. We can use the funds to augment capacity of current trains. This project is more like a status symbol for us,” Shivagopal Mishra, General Secretary, All India Railwaymen Federation told BusinessLine .

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