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India, Japan may take China-funded railway projects

Published Nov 6, 2023 07:28 am

At A Glance

  • Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said that Japan and India are being eyed by the government to support the Subic-Clark Railway, PNR South Long Haul Railway, and the Mindanao Railway projects valued at more than $5 billion.<br>This after the government said its no longer in talks with China to fund the railway projects.<br>In particular, Diokno said India is taking an interest in funding the South Long Haul Railway or PNR Bicol.

The government is looking at India and Japan for funding the three railways projects formerly funded by China, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said Japan and India are being eyed to support the Subic-Clark Railway, Philippine National Railways (PNR) South Long Haul Railway, and the Mindanao Railway projects valued at more than $5 billion.

In particular, he said that India is taking an interest in funding the South Long Haul Railway or PNR Bicol.

He revealed that the government dropped the deals with China due to slow negotiation.

“The negotiation is slow, it's not moving, so we have to explore other sources,” Diokno told reporters on Monday, Nov. 6.

The three railways were approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) as part of 197 infrastructure flagship projects. These projects were supposed to be financed through Chinese official development assistance.

The contract for the construction of the P142 billion PNR Bicol was awarded to China Railway Group Ltd., China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group Co. Ltd., and China Railway Engineering Consulting Group Co. Ltd. in January.

Further, the contract for the construction of the P51-billion Subic-Clark railway project was awarded to China Harbour Engineering Co. in December 2020.

Meanwhile, the P83 billion Mindanao Railway Project was approved as part of the previous Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program and was originally targeted run between 2024 and 2025.

Related Tags

Benjamin Diokno PNR Bicol Department of Finance
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