Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train to start in 2027, Indian envoy to Japan confirms

Bullet train project to begin on Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor in 2027

Sibi George, who is India's ambassador to Japan, has confirmed that India's bullet train project is expected to start operations on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor by 2027. George was speaking to CNN-News18.

“Japan has been an important partner in infrastructure projects, especially in the railway sector. All I can tell you is we will have a train running on that corridor by 2027. I stand by what I said," George told News18, while also acknowledging speculations about the delays with respect to the project and reports saying that Japan may provide E5 and E3 Shinkansen trains for trial runs.

This comes ahead of the Prime Minister's visit to Japan, which will start tonight. "This will be PM Modi's first annual summit with his Japanese counterpart, and is his first standalone visit to Japan in nearly seven years. He last visited for the annual summit in 2018," Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told the media ahead of PM Modi’s two-day visit.

Misri further said that the Prime Minister's visit will be dedicated to bilateral talks between India and Japan. This marks PM Modi's eighth visit to Japan since he came to power in 2014.

"The annual summit between India and Japan represents the highest-level dialogue mechanism that exists between the two countries and it drives the agenda of the India-Japan special strategic and global partnership," Misri further told the media.