NEW DELHI, July 17: India on Friday rejected allegations made by former Japanese Justice Minister Hideki Makihara who criticized the alleged delay in India’s first bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad and held India responsible for the delays.
The government said the remarks by Mr Makihara were an individual’s opinion and did not reflect the facts. The Centre, in fact, stated that the India-Japan discussions on the project are “progressing well” in line of which the first section of the bullet train project would be opened in 2027.
Makihara had accused the Indian side of “sheer recklessness,” alleging that officials repeatedly failed to honor commitments and pursued “self-interest” during negotiations on the high-speed rail project. In a post on
His remarks came in response to an opinion piece published the same day by Isao Tsujimura, a senior Japanese railway engineer and Delhi-based metro vehicle consultant, on a Tokyo-based business news portal. Tsujimura argued that India’s Bullet Train project had significantly diverged from the original Shinkansen model.
Responding to the allegations, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed the claims. “We have seen the post you are referring to. It is an individual opinion, and at considerable variance with facts,” Jaiswal said.
Jaiswal said discussions between India and Japan on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project were progressing smoothly.
“India-Japan discussions on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail are, in fact, progressing well. Japan will provide the E20 train series, but only in the early 2030s. The train in question is under development,” he said.
Highlighting the latest progress, Jaiswal said the project had achieved several major construction milestones and remained on track for phased commissioning.
“The construction work of the project has progressed rapidly, and the first section will be opened in 2027 itself,” Jaiswal said on Friday.
Earlier this week, Indian authorities announced that the first operational stretch of the Bullet Train corridor is expected to be the Surat-Bilimora section in Gujarat.
Construction on the 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail corridor has accelerated in recent months, with rapid progress on viaducts, tunnels and stations after years of delays caused primarily by land acquisition challenges and political changes in Maharashtra.
(Rohit Kumar)
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