NEW DELHI — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called Wednesday for the rapid completion of a free-trade agreement with India and pledged to help finance a $90 billion freight corridor to spur a doubling of investment in the South Asian nation.

Addressing India's legislature, Abe said the two nations would set up a research fund for work on a project to connect New Delhi and Bombay, its port and financial center.

India's failure to match road, railway and port development with its economic growth would be a blow to Japanese companies, which are expanding manufacturing in the world's second-most populous country. Abe's government will help India move ahead with the infrastructure project by giving loans at reduced rates.