1. Case Study:These are some of the recent quotes from the leading Indian Business Daily Newspapers (see the web link). Apply your understanding and analyse these statements with appropriate reasons? Is Japanese Government's bullet train loan the best deal for India? What could be have been the better alternatives, in your opinion, from a sound macroeconomic perspective? (10)

Mumbai: PM highlighted the fact that Japan had offered India a 50-year loan at just 0.1% interest to fund the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train link when he inaugurated the project with his Japanese counterpart in the Gujarat city earlier this month. Live Mint, Sep 28, 2017.

Is Japan's bullet train loan the best deal India has ever had? (livemint.com)

Mumbai: PM has claimed the bullet train offered to India by Japan is virtually free of cost. A 50-year yen loan amounting to Rs 88,000 crore at 0.1 % interest is being described by the prime minister as free of cost. Business Standard, Sep 18, 2017.Do the maths: India's first bullet train isn't 'free of cost' as Modi claims | Business Standard News (business-standard.com)

0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 Foreign Exchange Rate 5090 Von Foreign Exchange Rate: Monthly Average: Japan Yen SOURCE: WWW.CEICDATA.COM | Reserve Bank of India 0.66