PM Modi, Japan PM Shinzo Abe Lay Foundation Stone For India’s First Bullet Train

Ahmedabad, Sept 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday laid down the foundation stone for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed bullet train project. India’s first bullet train will start running on August 15, 2022. The bullet train will cover 508 kilometres and reduce travel time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad to around 2 hours from the existing 7-8 hours. The project costs Rs 1,10,000 crore.After laying the foundation stone for India’s first bullet train project, Abe addressed the gathering, beginning his speech with ‘Namaste’. Calling PM Modi a ‘far-sighted leader’, Abe said, “He made a decision of making New India and chose Japan as partner, we completely support it.” He also said Japan was committed to supporting the ‘Make in India’ programme, adding, “If we work together nothing is impossible.” Abe said that he hopes to come to Ahmedabad in a Shinkansen (bullet train) next time. He concluded his address saying, “PM Modi and I will work towards realizing Jai Japan- Jai India.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the Japanese PM for supporting India’s bullet train project. “I thank my friend Shinzo Abe, he took personal interest and assured that there should be no glitches in the project. If one says take loan and return it in 50 years, is it believable? But Japan is such a friend,they gave us loan of 88,000 crore at 0.1 per cent interest,” Modi said while addressing the gathering in Ahmedabad. He said that these high-speed corridors will bring next generation growth to India.