Ahmedabad: While the Indian Railways is planning a 'Make in India' touch to the bullet train, lawyer Anand Yagnik argues the project is "barely made in India". Yagnik, who was representing over 1,000 farmers affected by the bullet train in Gujarat High Court, meets us at his Ahmedabad office. He says, "The Japanese are smart. They have given India a loan at 0.1 per cent interest on the condition that the train will be built by their company. So, while the land on which the train will run is India's, every screw to build the train will come from Japan. How is it then a Make in India project?"

Yagnik is the sole representative of the farmers for whom he has filed more than 173 petitions and submitted 1,200 affidavits in the Gujarat High Court. "In Gujarat, 27 temples will be destroyed for the bullet train and 14,000 households will be affected. On an average, their monthly income is R5,000. With such a meagre amount, where will the farmers go after bullet train comes?" he asks.