As India takes a giant leap with plans to have a bullet train, it is estimated that about 20,000 jobs will be created from it, according to a State Bank of India research note.
India's first bullet train project was inaugurated on Thursday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Ahmedabad. The project, which will connect Ahmedabad and Mumbai, is expected to be completed by 2022.
"After the commissioning of the project, direct employment of 4,000 employees will be created for the operation and maintenance. Further the project is likely to generate about 16,000 indirect employment opportunities," said the note.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) project in Ahmedabad today, joining the list of around 20 countries.
Watch | India's Bullet Train Ambitions
This project will herald a new era of safety, speed and service for the people and help Indian Railways (with its third longest network) to become an international leader in scale, speed and skill, the SBI note said.
Besides job creation, the project will bring skills in the field of ballast-less track construction, installation of communications and signalling equipment, power distribution system.
Modern and world-class practices will be adopted for maintenance of the
railway system, which is expected to bring a paradigm shift in the maintenance practices currently being followed in Indian Railways, the note said.
Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Chief Economic Adviser of SBI, in the report, said that the introduction of the Japanese bullet train technology should not just be seen from the prism of economic opportunities. It will also have immense social and psychological benefits by bringing elite technology to the masses or bridging the gap between the elite and masses.
The state-of-the-art railway project that is being implemented is estimated to cost Rs 88,000 crore and the project is being funded by Japan at a nominal cost of only 0.1 percent (comparable rates are of 5 -7 percent) with a much larger repayment period.
With the commissioning of the bullet train project, around 40,000 passengers per day are expected to travel through this mode.
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