Railway unveils ₹3 lakh-cr new DFC corridors

The railway ministry has sought approval of the Union Cabinet to build three new dedicated freight corridors (DFC) entailing an investment of ₹3 trillion, said a senior government official. While the East-West Corridor of 2,328km will be built between Kolkata and Mumbai, the North-South Corridor of 2,327km is planned between Delhi and Chennai, and the East Coast Corridor of 1,114km will be built between Kharagpur and Vijaywada. Indian Railways’ DFC project involves construction of five freight corridors across the country. The railways, through its arm Dedicated Freight Corridor Corp. of India Ltd (DFCCIL), is already building the first two freight corridors—Eastern Freight Corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni (1,856km) and Western Freight Corridor from Dadri to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (1,504km) at a cost of ₹81,000 crore. Infrastructure projects typically have long gestation period and some DFCs have taken over a decade due to hurdles over land acquisitions as well as delay in sanctioning loans. The projects would be financed through public-private partnerships (PPP) or by raising funds from foreign institutions. The freight corridors are important for the government’s infrastructure projects that aims to decongest railway network, ensure faster movement of goods, increase the national carrier’s freight capacity network, and reduce overall logistics cost for companies. The railways plan to complete more than 60-70% of the work in the two corridors this financial year and make them fully operational by 2021.