NEW DELHI -- Japan's "shinkansen" bullet train technology is the leading candidate for a planned 500km railway linking Mumbai and the state of Gujarat, the first step in India's extensive high-speed rail project.
The Indian and Japanese governments initiated a joint feasibility study in late 2013, with a final report to be released in July 2015.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency, which is participating in the study, will tell participants Saturday at a high-speed rail seminar in New Delhi that the report will likely conclude that Japan's bullet train technology is the most appropriate option.
A top official in India's Ministry of Railways told The Nikkei that Japan's technology is the world's best and that India hopes to work on this project with Japan.
The Japanese contingent planning to attend the seminar includes Issei Kitagawa, state minister of transport; Yuji Fukasawa, executive vice president at East Japan Railway, which hopes to win orders for the project as part of a consortium of Japanese companies; Tadaharu Ohashi, a counselor at Kawasaki Heavy Industries; and top Hitachi officials.
With construction likely to start as early as 2017, India and Japan will quickly work out the necessary details, such as fundraising, as soon as the study is complete. Plans included combining official development assistance from JICA with an infrastructure fund set up by Japan's transport ministry.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been working to revive the country's manufacturing industry with the "Make in India" initiative, probably will require that rolling stock be built locally. How much Japanese companies will cede to India's demands will be a point of interest.
The railway linking Mumbai and Ahmedabad will cost 700 billion to 800 billion rupees ($12.2 billion to $13.9 billion), with 12 stations to be built along the route, the Indian government said. The train will have a top speed of 320 kph, slashing travel time to around two and a half hours from about eight hours now.
India plans to build nine railways linking the major cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, which has been dubbed the Diamond Quadrilateral project.
Since the Mumbai-Ahmedabad railway requires tunneling beneath a river, India favors Japanese drilling technology, which was used in projects such as the Seikan Tunnel linking Japan's main island with the northern island of Hokkaido. India also focused on Japan's safety record, with no passenger deaths in 50 years of operation, and know-how allowing trains to run at intervals of several minutes.
France, Spain and China also have shown interest in India's high-speed rail plans, and competition over the other routes likely will remain fierce.
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