Former Japanese minister blames India for bullet train delays, says “India broke its promises”

New Delhi: Former Japanese justice minister Hideki Makihara has publicly blamed the Indian government for the prolonged delays to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, accusing New Delhi of reneging on commitments made during negotiations and putting its own interests ahead of the partnership.

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“For the honour of all Japanese folks who poured their hearts into this, I have to say it: I feel 100 percent that the reason this hasn’t moved forward is entirely the Indian side,” Makihara wrote on X on Wednesday.

In a separate post, he also criticized the Indian minister overseeing the project, describing the individual as “especially awful” and adding, “if the top guy’s like that, there’s no way to have any decent dealings.”

Makihara’s remarks, made in a personal capacity and not on behalf of the Japanese government, come days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled India’s first hydrogen-powered train in Jind, Haryana.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project, spanning 508 kilometres across 10 cities, was jointly inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi and then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2017. Japan is financing about 81 percent of the project through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under a highly concessional loan arrangement.

Originally scheduled for completion in 2023, the flagship infrastructure project has suffered repeated setbacks due to land acquisition hurdles, construction delays and escalating costs.

Last week, the Ministry of Railways said the corridor would be opened in phases beginning next year, with the Surat-Bilimora section expected to be the first to become operational.

Once completed, trains using Japan’s Shinkansen technology will operate at speeds of up to 320 km/h, reducing travel time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad to about two hours and seven minutes for limited-stop services.

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The project is now estimated to cost Rs 1.08 lakh crore, with around 1,390 hectares of land acquired for the corridor.

Makihara’s unusually blunt criticism is likely to draw attention because it departs from the generally measured public messaging that has characterised India-Japan cooperation on the project. Neither the Government of India nor the Japanese government had publicly responded to his remarks at the time of writing.

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