Production on Bond 23 will not be taking place in India after all. The Times of India reported that Take One productions, who were working with Eon on the filming, told them on September 22 that “Bond will not be coming to India,” and all plans were cancelled.

The decision follows weeks of delays on the part of various parts of the subcontinent’s infrastructure, but Chandralekha Mukherjee, executive director, information and publicity, Indian Railways, told The Times of India the next day that they had “given [the producers] all the permissions. They wanted to shoot in the Sabarmati yard and had asked to shoot on two gauges – broad gauge and meter gauge – and they wanted these for seven-hour stretches every day for seven days in a row, and we’d agreed. All had been worked out. They also wanted to shoot between Mumbai and Goa on the hero train, and wanted a special shot where a motorcycle from a bridge would jump on to a train, and the coach on which he’d jump needed to be re-enforced, and we agreed.”

According to Mukherjee, the matter was finalised by September 13, but the production team decided not to travel to India a week later, “after an international discussion.” Location filming featuring Daniel Craig returning as 007 will revert to South Africa.