India's 1st high-speed rail: only 0.9 ha. of land was acquired in 1 year, Japan suspended the loan

[Adam WANG SHANGHAI MEGA]

Observer 2018-10-17 10:40:51

[Observer Network Comprehensive Report] According to a report by Bloomberg News on October 17, the Indian high-speed railway plan is in trouble due to land acquisition difficulties. After one year of project start-up, the 1400 hectares of land required for railways only received 0.9 hectares, resulting in the The goal of completing the line in 2023 may not be completed.

Propaganda models and models of Indian high-speed trains exhibited in Mumbai (Source: Hindustan Times)

The Mumbai and Ahmedabad high-speed rail project is the first high-speed railway in India with a total length of 505 kilometers and is scheduled to start in January 2019. The Indian Railways Corporation and its partner Japan Shinkansen Technology Co., Ltd. jointly built. The plan costs $15 billion (about 103.8 billion yuan). Japan provides a total of 190 billion yen (about RMB 11.3 billion) in loans with an annual interest rate as low as 0.1% and a repayment period of 50 years.

According to the report, due to farmers' dissatisfaction with the compensation measures for land acquisition, railway construction is difficult. A group of farmers are petitioning the Gujarat High Court for a moratorium on land acquisition and questioning the government’s right to purchase land for public-private partnerships. India's high-speed rail line runs 349 kilometers through Gujarat, and local farmers who planted raspberry fruit and mangoes continue to protest land acquisitions with the support of local politicians.

According to the observer network, local residents said that the Indian government had promised to protect their employment and night infrastructure in the previous projects, but ultimately did not comply with any commitments. Therefore, it is difficult to trust the government's high-speed rail construction to bring them benefits.

A farmer in the area and his field (Source: Kyodo)

Due to the slow progress of land acquisition, the Japanese side has stopped issuing the second phase of loans. It is also estimated that the plan to start construction in January 2019 is difficult to achieve. The Indian side even asked the railway to be completed in 2022, but now it is difficult to achieve even the original plan of 2023.

Bloomberg quoted Bendra Jia, a professor of economics at the Australian National University, as saying, “In India, land acquisition is a common problem, causing many projects to be postponed.”

Since it is a "universal problem," then the affected nature is not just a high-speed rail. The report quoted data from the Indian Economic Monitoring Center as saying that by September 2018, India had completed projects worth 754 billion rupees (about 70.9 billion yuan) on infrastructure projects such as railways, ports and airports, less than 20,000 planned. Half of the rupee (about 188.2 billion yuan).

However, due to the high visibility and influence of the Indian high-speed rail project, its delay will undoubtedly have greater political impact than other projects. Political analyst and Indian Prime Minister Modi’s biographer Nilanyan Mukhopdiaiyah said that if the high-speed rail project has a setback, it will undoubtedly greatly affect Modi’s “all-powerful” image.

In addition, for the project partners: JR East Japan, Hitachi and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, they have always regarded the Indian high-speed rail project as a major victory for China's high-speed rail competition, and the delays in the construction period now also make them Victory cast a shadow.

This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.

 

[Skull and Bones]

Acquiring land in India is a hassle.

 

[kris]

I don't think so. Elections are coming in few months. Govt won't risk much now wrt land acquisition

 

[艹艹艹]

great

 

[Novice09]

2019, government don't want to burn the hands before election... they are talking with all stakeholders and asking them to withdraw court cases...

DEMOCRACY

 

[Adam WANG SHANGHAI MEGA]

feel sad for indians and lucky china is not involved!

 

[大汉奸柳传志]

stupid Japanese should only blame themselves...

 

[Tom M]

feel sad for indians and lucky china is not involved!

Well I appreciate the Chinese for this. For them, it's just virtually drawing a straight line on the map, and then bulldoze anything that comes in the way.
Bingo, and there goes the mega expressways and railroads.

It doesn't work that way in India, there will be strikes, satyagraha, people going to courts for getting higher compensation for their land from the government. But slowly at a snail's pace, eventually some things do happen.

kudankulam protest is one such classic example like 100 others.

There is no comparison with China in this case. I think there is no room for descent in China, else the government will suppress with brutal tactics.

Won't sell up? Enjoy living in the middle of a motorway! Road is built around a house after elderly Chinese couple refuse to move

I guess it doesn't work in even Pakistan or Bangladesh as well. Otherwise Pakistan would have already build few dams few decades back.

 

[Adam WANG SHANGHAI MEGA]

Well I appreciate the Chinese for this. For them, it's just virtually drawing a straight line on the map, and then bulldoze anything that comes in the way.
Bingo, and there goes the mega expressways and railroads.

It doesn't work that way in India, there will be strikes, satyagraha, people going to courts for getting higher compensation for their land from the government. But slowly at a snail's pace, eventually some things do happen.

kudankulam protest is one such classic example like 100 others.

There is no comparison with China in this case. I think there is no room for descent in China, else the government will suppress with brutal tactics.

Won't sell up? Enjoy living in the middle of a motorway! Road is built around a house after elderly Chinese couple refuse to move

I guess it doesn't work in even Pakistan or Bangladesh as well. Otherwise Pakistan would have already build few dams few decades back.

Indians has too.much useless freedoms while Chinese has too few (not necessary wrong)considering the economic development level.
if every Indian landlord want to be a billionnaire through land acquisition,HSR forget it!
1)in China,farm land compensation standard is 30000RMB to 90000RMB per mu(667 sq meters)
,about USD 4000 to 12 000 in general for 1000 sq meters.this is the first type.
2)one appartment for one appartment for real estate business!this is the secondary type.
you get 100sq meter new appartment when a real estate company want to collect your old one whatever how old itself is.

 

[AndrewJin]

A farmer should given at least a free house, a new job, and reasonable cash.
You must ensure their future, and education opportunities of their children.

It's not just about simple land acquisition, but provide a new ecosystem with urbanisation at the town/village level.
This means, at the same time of planning a HSR, a responsible local government will plan an entire corridor along the railway, no matter it is industrial or about tourism, or high-tech agriculture.

Near a new station in the countryside, you need to build new tourist sites, hotels, public transport. These will provide jobs for those who have lost land. You need to also build village-owned factories for processing agriculture products and logistics centre, so that villagers can sell products directly online and also at the station's shopping centre. You need to financially support former farmers to open boutique guesthouses, and do online promotion for them.


For one dollar you spend in HSR, you need 3 dollars in related projects.
But for one dollar you spend, you will get 10 dollars in return.

 

[Adam WANG SHANGHAI MEGA]

Well I appreciate the Chinese for this. For them, it's just virtually drawing a straight line on the map, and then bulldoze anything that comes in the way.
Bingo, and there goes the mega expressways and railroads.

It doesn't work that way in India, there will be strikes, satyagraha, people going to courts for getting higher compensation for their land from the government. But slowly at a snail's pace, eventually some things do happen.

kudankulam protest is one such classic example like 100 others.

There is no comparison with China in this case. I think there is no room for descent in China, else the government will suppress with brutal tactics.

Won't sell up? Enjoy living in the middle of a motorway! Road is built around a house after elderly Chinese couple refuse to move

I guess it doesn't work in even Pakistan or Bangladesh as well. Otherwise Pakistan would have already build few dams few decades back.

if everyone has agreed, you refuseed it yourself, which means you are undermining the best interests for everyone,there is no such things as perfection exist on this world!
if you want to live in the Middle of the road, it is.your choice,95% of this cases are.caused by their greed,usually they get pay 1 million or 1.5 million RMB to move away and a new appartment with fewer money,this kind of family want 2.5 millions,and insist on it,the government and the project contractor get mad and keep them.the way they are.100% of.those residents regreted want.the original bargain but the government and contractor refused them,and they have no choices any more!

 

[AndrewJin]

Indians has too.much useless freedoms while Chinese has too few (not necessary wrong)considering the economic development level.
if every Indian landlord want to be a billionnaire through land acquisition,HSR forget it!
1)in China,farm land compensation standard is 30000RMB to 90000RMB per mu(667 sq meters)
,about USD 4000 to 12 000 in general for 1000 sq meters.this is the first type.
2)one appartment for one appartment for real estate business!this is the secondary type.
you get 100sq meter new appartment when a real estate company want to collect your old one whatever how old itself is.

I think deep down it's about planning, also a government's accountability on planning.
If a government promises big but never delivers, it's understandable those farmers have little hope about a brighter future.

This is completely different from the situation in China, where farmers enthusiastically embrace changes, because they know their life will become much better.

The entire Hefei-Fuzhou HSR corridor has witnessed revolutionary changes in terms of tourism, agriculture, and urbanisation at the village level.

 

[Mighty Lion]

Govt won't risk taking land in election season.
Land Will be acquired after elections.

 

[SBUS-CXK]

Well I appreciate the Chinese for this. For them, it's just virtually drawing a straight line on the map, and then bulldoze anything that comes in the way.
Bingo, and there goes the mega expressways and railroads.

It doesn't work that way in India, there will be strikes, satyagraha, people going to courts for getting higher compensation for their land from the government. But slowly at a snail's pace, eventually some things do happen.

kudankulam protest is one such classic example like 100 others.

There is no comparison with China in this case. I think there is no room for descent in China, else the government will suppress with brutal tactics.

Won't sell up? Enjoy living in the middle of a motorway! Road is built around a house after elderly Chinese couple refuse to move

I guess it doesn't work in even Pakistan or Bangladesh as well. Otherwise Pakistan would have already build few dams few decades back.

Thanks for your help to explain Chinese high-speed railway construction,

but, now you should explain why India has hardly built anything related to high-speed rail.

We all know in a country where farmers collectively commit suicide. The so-called protest will affect the government's decision-making. This excuse is very unreliable.

 

[illusion8]

One wishes that India should have a hardcore commie regime for a decade and get all the infrastructure projects done...in the bargain throwing a few million in concentration camps. All the while, throwing out all media and just keeping a couple of regime mouth pieces live. Or else, India with all it's issues will remain mediocre.