Japan to fund 81% of India's first bullet train cost worth $15 billion

New Delhi: Japan has offered a loan amounting to 81 percent of the cost of the USD 15 billion Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail project, Rajya Sabha was informed Friday.

"Government of Japan has given an assistance package proposal for Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail project involving financial assistance to the tune of 81 percent of the project cost as loan," Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said in a written reply to a question.

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

Construction is supposed to begin in 2017, with completion slated for 2023.

In response to another query, the minister said that Western Dedicated Freight Corridor project is funded substantially by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

DFCC, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), is engaged in planning, construction, operation and maintenance of the dedicated freight corridors. In the first phase, the two corridors namely, Eastern Corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni (1840 km) and Western Corridor from Dadri to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) (1502 km) are being constructed.

The entire Western Corridor is being funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), while the Eastern Corridor from Mughalsarai to Ludhiana is being funded by the World Bank.