GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
Ministry of Railways

RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1199
TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.11.2010
Progress of Dedicated Railway Freight Corridor

1199. SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR:
Will the Miister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a)    The progress of the proposed dedicated railway freight corridor to transport goods across the country;

(b)   The estimated cost of the project;

(c)    Whether it is a fact that less than 2 per cent of the land for this project has been acquired so far; and

(d)   If so, the reasons therefor and by when this is likely to be completed?

ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(SHRI E. AHAMED)

(a): Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) Project comprising Eastern Corridor (Dankuni- Ludhiana) and the Western Corridor (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal to Tughlakabad/ Dadri) has been sanctioned by the Government and is under implementation. Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), a Special Purpose Vehicle, has been formed as a Public Sector Undertaking of the Ministry of Railways to implement this Project. Initial construction contracts for 105 Kilometers in Eastern DFC and for 54 major and important bridges on Western DFC have been awarded and work is in progress. Negotiation for external funding are in progress and funding for phase- 1 (Rewari- Vadodara) of Western DFC is tied up with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). A part of the Eastern DFC is also proposed to be funded through domestic investment in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The project is targeted to be completed in 2016-17.

(b): The base construction cost of the Project including cost of land acquisition is estimated at Rs. 50761 crores. This exclude escalation, contingency, PPP element, taxes and interest during construction

(c ): No, Sir. Under Section 20F of the Railways (Amendment) Act, 2008 award has been made for over 20% of land to be acquired for the project. The total land requirement for the project is, however, under review with the intention of bringing the proposed alignment as close to the existing rail track as possible

(d): Does not arise