Hideki Makihara, Japan’s former Justice Minister has claimed that the minister in charge of the bullet train project was “especially awful,” adding that the Indian delegation pushed “their own self-interest right up to the very end.”
Makihara claims to have been involved in the project, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR), which aimed to bring Japanese Shinkansen technology to the country. The 508-kilometre corridor is targeted for a phased launch, with the initial sections slated to open by August 15, 2027. The trains will reportedly operate at speeds up to 320 kilometres per hour, reducing travel time between the two financial hubs from over 6 hours to just about 2 hours.
However, the Japanese side had several negative points to say regarding the project. On July 14, a Japanese metro official published an opinion piece in the local news highlighting several irregularities in the high-speed rail project.
Makihara shared the article on social media and wrote that the Shinkansen project was “sheer recklessness” on the Indian side.
“The Shinkansen project in India is something I was involved with myself, but what stood out in international meetings and negotiations was the sheer recklessness of the Indian side, repeated over and over,” the former minister wrote.
He claimed that the Indian delegation “doesn’t keep promises, no matter what.” Even if they make a promise, they flip it right away, he said.
“They keep pushing their own self-interest right up to the very end,” Makihara said, adding that the minister in charge “was especially awful—if the top guy’s like that, there’s no way to have any decent dealings.”
Makihara wrote in the post that he believes the project was delayed entirely due to the Indian side. “For the honor of all the Japanese folks who poured their hearts into this, I have to say it: I feel 100% that the reason this hasn’t moved forward is entirely on the Indian side.”
‘Project to end up a pipe dream’
Written by a Delhi-based Japanese metro consultant, the opinion piece covered the lesser-reported challenges in the Shinkansen project. He said that Japan was deftly excluded from the critical signalling system, a vital component for safety and operations. Despite Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s visit to India to discuss economic security and infrastructure, the high-speed rail project remains troubled, the official said.
“In reality, the trains are quite cheaply built, and they rarely travel at speeds above 130 km/h, making it seem unrealistic to develop high-speed trains based on them. However, India has considered this a success story and shifted its policy towards independently developing high-speed trains,” the official wrote.
He also mentioned the issues during meetings, claiming that even with limited experience, he knows that “when negotiating with Indians, staying silent is the way to lose.”
“I have no way of knowing what happened in the intergovernmental negotiations, but I don’t think that the lines that absolutely could not be crossed were properly recognised,” he wrote.
He added that the project will likely end up being a pipe dream. “Unless Japanese officials decide that it is acceptable to run the Shinkansen on the European signaling system, which is unlikely, it is safe to say that India’s Shinkansen project will almost certainly end up being a pipe dream.”
The article and the post by the Japanese politician came just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled India’s first hydrogen train in Jind, Haryana.
Congress MP Pawan Khera mocked the ruling party, following the social media post, calling it “another feather in PM Modi and the Reel Minister’s cap.” Khera criticised the government’s handling of the project in such a “disgraceful way that the government’s incompetence is now being criticised even by foreign officials.”
