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 $8 billion loan, a leading Japanese business daily reported on Tuesday.
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 $8.1 billion in official Japanese lending for the roughly $14.6 billion project to link Mumbai and Ahmedabad with 505 km railway line, it said.
“The two sides are discussing financing terms that would disburse about 100 billion yen a year over a decade or so. Senior Abe adviser Hiroto Izumi and Japanese foreign ministry officials on Monday wrapped up a trip to India, during which they discussed financing and other aspects of the project,” the daily 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.
