Chinese firms will team up with Indian companies to bid on five high-speed rail projects in India.
Chinese and Indian companies will team up to jointly bid for five high-speed railway projects in India, in order to foil Japanese bids to build bullet trains. This move is a reaction towards Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Japan, where he was pledged technical, financial as well as operational support for the Bullet train projects in India.
Public bidding for the projects will soon open in the country. One of the leading infrastructure firms in India, Tata Projects, is currently in discussions with a Chinese company that owns the modern technology used in the projects.
Speculations suggest that one of China’s rail giants, CSR Corp or CNR Corp, may participate in the bid as potential partners.
The Chinese President Xi Jinping’s forthcoming visit to India in September 2014 may shed some light into China’s investments in India, although, Indian Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharam did discuss the subject with Gao Hucheng, China’s Minister of Commerce, on September 2, 2014.
Sitharam suggested that India does seek Chinese investments and know-how to modernize stations and improve existing rail tracks to help speed-up trains till 160 km/h.
Chinese companies are general favorites to partner for infrastructure projects as they are considered reliable, show vast experience and lower cost in the high-speed rail sector.
Photo Credits: The Economic Times
