Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd (KRCL) has invited expression of interest (EoI) for building the 103-km Karad-Chiplun rail line in Maharashtra at an estimated cost of ₹3,196 crore.
Once the line is built, it will have the longest railway tunnel (12.8 km long) in India, surpassing the 11.2-km-long Pir-Panjal tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir.
SPV being formedThe project has received in-principle approval from the Ministry of Railways and Konkan Railway is in the process of forming an SPV for implementation.
“The Maharashtra government agreed to grant ₹464 crore for the project in 2012,” a State government official said.
According to the EOI, KRCL will invest a minimum of 26 per cent of equity and the balance would be borne by the joint venture partners.
KRCL will fund its portion of equity from internal cash generated and expects traffic of about 17 MTPA by the year 2019. The construction time is 50 months and the calculated internal rate of return for the project is 14.09 per cent.
Bids have been solicited till November 23 and will be finalised by November 30.
The concession agreement will be of 30-year duration with an option to extend it for five more years.
The railway line is expected to serve a hinterland of 600-700 km with mainly coal movement from the newly constructed ports such as Jaigarh in the Konkan region.
16 tunnelsThe railway line will have six stations, with a ruling gradient of 1:45 on the ghat section in the Sahyadri ranges besides 16 tunnels totalling 46.22 km and 23 major bridges.
Interestingly, new tunnelling guidelines mandate construction of a service tunnel alongside the main tunnel to facilitate rescue operations in case of emergencies. This is applicable to tunnels which are at least three km long.