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‘Indian bullet train costs below global benchmarks’

By Sohail Khan 26 August 2026, 8:11 pm

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Indian bullet train costs below global benchmarks: Official estimates
Synopsis

India's Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor costs are significantly lower than comparable international projects. Officials state the project's per-kilometer cost is around Rs 390 crore, much less than others. Domestic suppliers and internal accruals are helping manage costs, avoiding new loans. Indigenous bullet trains will be tested by mid-2027, with commercial operations starting soon after.

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India’s bullet train corridor costs significantly lower than estimates for comparable projects according to officials privy to inter-ministerial deliberations on the revised estimates. The 508-kilometre Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail corridor is now projected to cost around Rs 2 lakh crore on completion, up from initial estimates of Rs 1.08 lakh crore projected in 2016.

“The per kilometre (km) cost of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed train will be around Rs 390 crore,” a senior official told ET, adding Japan’s Hokuriku Shinkansen costed over Rs 1,150 crore per km. Indonesia’s Whoosh is around Rs 486 crore per km.

Also read: Centre revises cost of 993 road and 190 railway projects

“Opting for domestic suppliers significantly lowered the costs of trainset and signalling,” the official said adding the cost saving is despite land acquisition delays that pushed ahead project timelines.

The incremental cost of the project is expected to borne through internal accruals and no additional multi-lateral loans will be needed, the official said. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has extended Rs 59,396 crore worth of soft loans since 2017 for the project

ET reported last month that India and Japan had mutually agreed to run indigenous bullet trains and deploy globally inter-operable signalling systems in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail corridor. A joint call by the two nations was taken after Japanese suppliers did not place proposals aligned with timelines for operating the Surat-Vapi high speed rail section from 2027.

Plans are afoot to test India’s its home-made bullet trains in mid-2027 with civil work for the 97-kilometre Surat-Vapi high speed rail section completing this year. The railway ministry aims to kick off commercial operations for the country’s first bullet train from August 2027.

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