This is in pursuance of the Joint Statement between the Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Shinzo Abe on May 29, 2013, which suggested that the two sides will co-finance a joint feasibility study of this high speed rail route.

Accordingly a MoU was recently signed by Director South Asia Division JICA, Katsuo Matsumoto from the Japanese side and Adviser Infrastructure, Ministry of Railways, Girish Pillai from the Indian side, a statement issued by the Indian Railways said.

A Joint Monitoring Committee is slated be established comprising of the Ministry of Railways, Planning Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of External Affairs from the Indian side and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industries, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Ministry of Finance, Embassy of Japan in India and JICA from the Japanese side.

The objective of the proposed joint study is to prepare a feasibility report for high speed railway system on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route with speed of 300-350 kmph. The cost of the study will be shared 50:50 between India and Japan.

The study shall be completed within18 months from its commencement. The study will do traffic forecasting, alignment surveys and undertake comparative study of high speed railway technology and system.