On Saturday, 30 August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded a historic two-day visit to Japan, during which Japan committed to an ambitious investment goal of 10 trillion yen (Rs 60,000 crore), approximately $67 billion, in private sector investment into India. This initiative aims to deepen economic cooperation between the two countries. Throughout his visit, India and Japan firmed up 13 key agreements and declarations, and announced the launch of several key initiatives. Additionally, nearly 150 agreements and partnerships worth over $13 billion were finalised at the India-Japan Business Forum.

On the concluding day of the visit, Prime Minister Modi, along with his Japanese counterpart Shigeru Ishiba, took a ride in a bullet train from Tokyo to Sendai and visited the bullet train coach manufacturing site of Japanese East Railway (JR East) that is manufacturing the next generation ALFA-X train sets, also known as E-10 @7000 KM.

A day prior, on Friday 29 August, from the land of the Rising Sun, PM Modi announced the ambitious programme of India’s 7000 km high-speed rail network. In an interview with the Japanese daily The Yomiuri Shimbun, he stated, “While the Ahmedabad-Mumbai high-speed corridor, a flagship project between India and Japan, is underway, we have unveiled a bigger ambition: to have a 7,000-kilometre-long network of high-speed rail in our country."

Speaking about the expansion of the country’s high-speed rail network, PM Modi stressed in the interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun that “much of the expansion of high-speed rail will have to be through Make in India, so that the programme is sustainable and viable. I welcome active participation by Japanese companies in this endeavour."

In a landmark development, Japan will introduce its latest E10 series Shinkansen bullet trains to India by the early 2030s as part of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project, a centrepiece of cooperation between Tokyo and New Delhi. This development was confirmed during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to Japan, following talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The introduction of the next generation E-10 trainsets, capable of reaching speeds of 400 km/h and likely to be manufactured in India, will revolutionise rail travel in India with faster, safer, and more energy-efficient trains.

As part of the cooperation, India will receive:

This development will also provide a much-needed boost to fast-tracking the much-delayed high-speed rail in India.

Both leaders reiterated the strategic significance of the high-speed rail initiative and pledged to accelerate the timeline for its operation. They agreed that cutting-edge Japanese technology would be installed without delay, with preparatory work to begin immediately. As part of the cooperation, India will also receive a........

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