The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a loan agreement with the Government of India to provide an official development assistance (ODA) loan of 100,000 million Japanese Yen (around Rs 6,000 crore) as Tranche 3 for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR)—the pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Under the new Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government, the MAHSR project is being sped up. The objective of the project is to develop a high-frequency mass transportation system by constructing a high-speed rail between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, using Japan’s Shinkansen technology, thereby enhancing mobility in India and contributing to regional economic development.
The loan agreement was signed between Rajat Kumar Mishra, additional secretary at the Department of Economic Affairs in Government of India’s Ministry of Finance, and Watanabe Jun, Senior Representative of JICA India, according to a press statement.
Jun said: “The MAHSR project has contributed to the development of India’s first high-speed rail initiative. By introducing Japan’s high speed rail technology, this project has emerged as a symbol of Japan-India collaboration. We have witnessed great progress in civil work so far. We believe that the day is approaching when the Shinkansen system adopted in the project will contribute to region-wide economic and social development, which will bring about income generation to local residents.”
JICA has been supporting the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project by providing ODA loans.
The loan agreement signed on Monday was subsequent to the JPY 250,000 million (approximately Rs 18,000 crore) package of JICA’s commitment in 2017. National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited is the project’s executing agency.
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