Ensuring fast tracked transportation facilities across regions, the Union government is all set to award the second high-speed rail project in the country soon, and Japan seems to be the likely contender for the mega project. Negotiation to this effect will be finalized during the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Japan, said media report, adding that the project which proposed to connect Mumbai with Ahmedabad, is likely to be funded through a loan from Tokyo for upto 81% of the cost at a nominal interest rate of 0.1 percent per annum, to be repaid in 50 years with a 15-year moratorium. Work on the link, that includes multiple tunnels and bridges, is expected to begin in December this year and the network is expected to be ready by 2023-24. Tariffs on the proposed route are estimated to be lower than airfares. Apart from this project, five other rail corridors - Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Chennai, Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Nagpur, and Mumbai-Nagpur have also been identified for running high-speed trains. China is also believed to be considering participating in development of high-speed rail networks in the country.
