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A former Japanese minister has blamed an Indian minister and officials over an alleged "delay" in the ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project. Former Japanese Justice Minister Hideki Makihara, on July 15, accused them of "sheer recklessness", alleging that officials repeatedly failed to honour commitments and pursued "self-interest" during negotiations on the Shinkansen project. Makihara's claims came after an opinion piece in a Japanese news outlet said that the project had diverged from the original Shinkansen model. Makihara claimed in a post on X that the lack of progress in India's flagship high-speed rail corridor was "entirely on the Indian side".
On Friday, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) rejected Makihara's claims, saying that the project was progressing well.
The first section of India's inaugural high-speed rail corridor, the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR), is expected to begin phased passenger operations on August 15, 2027.
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor uses Japanese Shinkansen technology and is partially funded by the Japanese government's Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Makihara on X posted his comments in response to an opinion piece on a Tokyo-based business news portal by Isao Tsujimura, a senior Japanese railway engineer and Delhi-based metro vehicle consultant, on July 15, who argued that India's first bullet train project has significantly diverged from the original Japanese Shinkansen model.
Tsujimura alleged that Indian officials privately knew that the target of starting operations in 2023 was unrealistic.
The post by Makihara on X is in Japanese, and we have reported on the basis of its English translation.
Congress MP Pawan Khera criticised the PM Modi-led government over Makihara's allegations.
"A former Japanese minister who was personally involved in the India–Japan Shinkansen project has claimed that, despite Prime Minister Takaichi's visit, the project failed and that Japan was excluded from the signalling system – a component crucial to railway safety," Khera on Friday posted on X.
On being asked about the post, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "We have seen the post you are referring to, it is an individual opinion, and at considerable variance with facts."
"India-Japan discussions on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail are, in fact, progressing well. Japan will provide E20 train series, but only in the early 2030s, the train in question is under development," Jaiswal added.
In fact, India's Bullet Train project has recently crossed several construction milestones.
Reacting to Tsujimura's article on Tokyo-based business publication Toyo Keizai Online, Makihara, who briefly served as Japan's Justice Minister in 2024, wrote on X that his own experience with the project matched Tsujimura's assessment.
"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," Makihara said.
He alleged that Indian officials routinely failed to honour commitments. "They just don't keep promises, no matter what. Even if they make a promise, they flip it right away," the former Japanese minister added.
Makihara further accused Indian authorities of negotiating solely in their own interest.
"They keep pushing their own self-interest right up to the very end. The minister in charge was especially awful. If the top guy's like that, there's no way to have any decent dealings," he said.
"For the honour 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."
Makihara also referred to Tsujimura's opinion piece and remarked that even Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's July 2026 visit to New Delhi had failed to produce meaningful progress on the issue.
