“The three DPRs are underway and are likely to be submitted by December this year,” said a government source. A decision will then be taken by Railways Ministry on whether and how to take the projects forward.
The Railways had sanctioned DPRs for three new DFCs. These include the East-Coast Corridor (Kharagpur to Vijayawada – 1,115 km); the East-West Corridor (Palghar-Bhusawal-Nagpur-Kharagpur-Dankuni – 2,163km and Rajkharsawan-Kalipahari-Andal – 195 km) and the North-South Sub-corridor (Vijayawada-Nagpur-Itarsi – 975 km).
The DPRs are being prepared by the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL), which is already undertaking the construction of the Eastern and Western DFCs.
To improve transit time
The new corridors, if approved, would help to further improve transit time of freight transport by Railways and eventually help increase the Railways’ share in cargo movement. It is expected that the new corridors will help in transport of minerals from the mining areas across the country and to the ports.
However, the source pointed out that sanctioning of any new DFC project would depend on a number of factors including techno-economic feasibility, resource availability and financing options.
Even the two existing DFCs are still a work in progress after many years, although the government is hopeful of completing most parts of the two corridors by the middle of 2023.
In Union Budget
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had, in the Union Budget 2021-22, announced that the government would in future undertake dedicated freight corridor projects — East Coast, East-West Corridor and North-South corridor from Itarsi to Vijayawada.
“Detailed Project Reports will be undertaken in the first phase,” she had said at the time, although the reports have faced some delays.
