The Hindu Business Line : Railways deputes officers for freight corridor project

New Delhi May 30 In a move to start early implementation of the dedicated freight corridor project, the Indian Railways has appointed a team of about 20 officers to start preliminary work on the project. These officials have joined Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) on deputation from the Ministry. The move comes even as the search committee at Cabinet Secretariat is yet to firm up the board members for DFCCIL, the special purpose vehicle that would manage the project.

Team mandate

The appointed team would work towards constructing 320 km of rail link on each corridor, which would be taken up on a priority basis. The two rail routes are Ajmer-Palanpur section on the western corridor and Aligarh-Kanpur section on the eastern corridor.

"We have identified two priority sections of about 320 km each for both the corridors. The team has started working on the final location and design survey for these two sections," said official sources.

JICA report

Meanwhile, the Japanese Investment Cooperation Agency (JICA), in its second draft report, has suggested several junctions where the dedicated freight corridor would be linked to the Indian Railways network through feeder routes.

On the western corridor, which would link JN port with Dadri, the junctions include Vasai, Gothangam, Makarpura, Sabarmati, Palanpur, Marwar, Phulera, Rewari, Rithala, Dadri and Tughlakabad. Similarly, in the eastern corridor, which would link Ludhiana to Sonnagar, the junctions include Sonnagar, Ganjhhaya, Mugalsarai, Jeonathpur, Prempur, Bhaupur, Tundra, Dandkha, Dadri, Kalanam, Rajpura, Sirhind and Dandarikalan.

Cost of depot

On the depots that need to be set up along both corridors, JICA has said that setting up each depot would cost about Rs 155 crore on the western corridor while they would cost Rs 141 crore on the eastern corridor.

JICA, which is conducting a feasibility report, expects to submit the final report by September this year.

DFCCIL has an authorised capital of Rs 4,000 crore initially, which is likely to be increased subsequently depending on the requirement.

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