KACHARAGADLA

The 505 km corridor linking Mumbai and Ahmedabad gas been assessed as a viable project. Japan has offered to finance India’s first bullet train, estimated to cost $15 billion, at an interest rate of less than 1 per cent, officials said, stealing a march on China, which is bidding for other projects on the world’s fourth-largest network. Tokyo was picked to assess the feasibility of building the 505-km corridor linking Mumbai and Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home State, and concluded it would be technically and financially viable. The project to build and supply the route will be put out to tender, but offering finance makes Japan the clear frontrunner. Last month, China won the contract to assess the feasibility of a high-speed train between Delhi and Mumbai, a 1,200-km route estimated to cost twice as much. No loan has yet been offered. Japan’s decision to give virtually free finance for Modi’s pet programme is part of its