Over a year and a half after getting the Cabinet approval, the dedicated freight corridor (DFC) of the railways is now set to take off. A contract for construction of about a 300 kilometre-long segment of the eastern corridor will be awarded soon.
The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL), the special purpose vehicle responsible for the corridor, has already floated an invitation for expressions of interest (EoU) for building the stretch between Bhaupur (near Kanpur) and Mandrak (near Aligarh).
“This is one of our priority areas as there is a lot of traffic on this route. So we decided to begin work on this immediately,” a railway official said. The segment will be constructed largely on the existing alignment and will consist of double track electrified railway lines with signalling and telecommunication systems.
According to the EoI, it will be built on the EPC (Engineer, Procure and Construct) basis and will be funded by railways. The cost of the project has been estimated at about Rs 3,000 crore. Railway sources told FE that after the tendering process would get over in the next few months and the contract should be awarded by September this year.
If all this goes through, this will be the first time when any actual construction on any part of the corridor is initiated. So far, the ambitious DFC project?the cost of which has been pegged at anywhere between Rs 24,000 crore and over Rs 50,000 crore?has been caught up in a number of issues over its funding pattern.
It may, however, be noted that the construction work will be started without railways coming up with a formal business plan. The official said, “It is already clear that the eastern part of the corridor will be financed by the railways on its own. So we see no need to wait for a business plan.”
Railway minister Lalu Prasad in his Latest Budget had promised to begin construction of the two arms of the corridor during 2008-09. The DFC covering about 2,762 km will have two arms- the eastern corridor from Ludhiana to Sonenagar/Dankuni and the western corridor from Mumbai to Tughlakabad.