From Aapnu Amdavad to Aamchi Mumbai: Highlights from bullet train launch

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on Thursday launched India's first bullet train project in Ahmedabad.

The Rs 1.10 lakh crore train project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai is expected to be completed by 2022. The train would cover the distance of over 500 km in around two hours. Japan has extended a soft loan for the ambitious project conceptualised by Modi.

Here are their top quotes:

• 'The bullet train can be Modi's legacy'

- Bullet train is all about speed and it will bring employment and development at a fast pace

- No country can grow unless it has a dream and a goal, unless it takes steps towards achieving that. Today India has taken a big step in that direction

- Look at Japan, a friend that has agreed to loan 88,000 crores to India at only 0.1% interest. True friendship is about more than just money, and Japan has proved it today. I cannot thank Shinzo Abe and the Japanese people enough for their large hearts

- The bullet train will bring you from Aapnu Amdavad to Amchi Mumbai. The area between Ahmedabad and Mumbai will become single economic zone

- The transport system is of prime importance for a nation's development. I thank my friend Shinzo Abe; he took personal interest and assured that there should be no glitches in the project

- In the United States, after its rail network grew, it underwent a massive phase of growth that has lasted since. Similarly, in Japan, when the Shinkansen started in 1964, it changed the face of Japan and took it on a high-growth trajectory

- The bullet train will help India increase its productivity. Productivity is the basis of growth. India will focus on 'High Productivity, with High-Speed Connectivity'

- I'm grateful that Japan got the opportunity to build the first bullet train in India. It's a historic day, a beginning of new chapter. I am extremely happy. Two years ago a decision was taken for this project. India and Japan are key partners

- I would like to state that India-Japan partnership is special, strategic and global

- Japan is committed to support Make In India. Our industries are working with India to give a boost to manufacturing in India

- India can truly become a global manufacturing hub. It can become a large industrial nation and export to the rest of the world. India has immense potential

- I wish that when I come here next I come with PM Modi in a Shinkansen (bullet train)

Photograph: Press Information Bureau