Malaysia has received offers to halve the cost of building the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High Speed Rail (HSR) link, and would consider reviving the project if its price tag was lowered, said Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng.

He told The Straits Times in an interview recently that these offers were made after Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad first voiced his intention to cancel the rail line within days of taking power in the May general election.

Noting that he had not received any formal proposals, Mr Lim said the offers still indicated that the original cost of the HSR - estimated at RM110 billion (S$37.1 billion) - was too high. "The project by itself makes some sense but not at the exorbitant cost," he said.

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