Japan offers India billions for infrastructure, including a bullet train

Japan plans to give India $35bn over the next five years for infrastructure development. 

The projects involved are said to include construction of new smart cities as well as the cleaning of the River Ganges, the fifth most polluted river in the world. 

Funding would also go towards joint public-private projects in manufacturing, clean energy, skill development and agriculture. 

The development of a Shinkansen "bullet train" in India, running from Ahmedabad to Mumbai, is also to receive financing. 

The funding is part of a wider commitment by the two countries to collaborate made during a five-day visit to Japan by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

"There is no limit to our cooperation. There is nothing lacking in our will… There is new enthusiasm and expectation," Modi said yesterday, according to the New Indian Express, adding that he had decided to put Japan in the "fast-track" channel. 

A decision could not be reached, however, concerning a nuclear deal between the two countries, but the leaders signed a statement of intent to resume talks at a later date. 

Meanwhile, July infrastructure output growth in India has decreased to 2.7%, the lowest for 3 months, Reuters reported, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has banned the country’s financial sector from buying bonds issued to pay for infrastructure work.