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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
 Posted - 02/14/2009 : 06:34:20
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Railways will likely get Rs 200 billion (Rs 20,000 crore/$4 billion) from Japan for their rail freight corridor project, Railways Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad said here Friday.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will release the funds by the end of 2009, Mr Lalu Prasad told reporters after presenting the interim railway budget.
The minister had last month visited Japan to smoothen out the formalities for receiving the soft loan for the dedicated freight corridor project. The first phase of the corridor will link New Delhi and Mumbai.
JICA has agreed in principle to give the loan, but the Japanese are demanding that 30 per cent of the work, including technical assistance, be provided by Japanese companies. The dedicated freight corridor is aimed at reducing the pressure on existing railway lines, easing congestion, reducing delivery times and improving overall efficiency and productivity.
Work will start this month, on both the eastern and western corridors, Mr Lalu Prasad said.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 02/15/2009 : 06:48:42
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Indian Railways Authorized to Acquire Land For Projects
By Goutam Gupta
Kolkata
12-February-2009
Indian Railways have been authorized to acquire land for its ambitious `Dedicated Freight Corridor` project.
State governments used to acquire land for any development projects. The authorization will enable the railways to bypass the states.
The corridor project will enable the Railways run faster, longer and heavier goods trains along dedicated tracks.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 03/12/2009 : 20:21:28
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Leading firms eye railways' $4 bn logistics parks
Calcutta News.Net
Thursday 12th March, 2009 (IANS)
Indian Railways' ambitious $4 billion (Rs.20,000 crore) programme inviting the private sector to build and develop multi-modal logistics parks along the proposed eastern and western dedicated freight corridors has evoked interest from leading players in the field.
State-run Container Corp of India, DHL Logistics, Transport Corp of India, GATI, Adani Logistics, Sical Logistics, World Windows Infrastructure and Mahindra Logistics are some of the companies in the fray, a railways ministry official said.
'So far, based on our invitation for sending us expression of interest, we have received applications from nine companies,' said a senior ministry official involved in the execution of the public-private initiative.
'By the time the deadline ends on March 15, we expect some more companies to respond,' the official told IANS, requesting anonymity. He said each of these logistics hubs would be provided 300-400 acres of land for development.
Currently, two routes have been taken up for the dedicated freight corridors and the logistics parks will come up along them.
These are the 1,483 km western route from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Navi Mumbai to Dadri in Uttar Pradesh via Ahmedabad, Palanpur, Rewari and Tughlakabad (Delhi); and the 1,806 km eastern route from Dankuni (near Kolkata) to Ludhiana in Punjab via Sonnagar, Mughalsarai, Allahabad and Khurja.
The basic objective of the logistics projects is to enhance the volume of rail freight in the overall transport chain of the country with complete solutions to help companies reduce both the cost and time of transporting goods.
'Private companies can also develop real estate on such land. They can build offices, commercial complexes, trade pavilions, conference facilities, hotels, restaurants and even residential accommodation,' the ministry official said.
According to a study by a leading global realty consultancy Cushman and Wakefield, the Indian logistics business is expected to grow at 15-20 percent per annum over the next five years, attracting investments of $385 billion. ($1 equals Rs.50 approximately)
The study also said that by 2012, about 110 logistics parks will be operational in the country spread over 3,500 acres, with another 45 million sq ft of warehousing space to be developed by various logistics companies by same time frame.
On being asked if any real estate and infrastructure companies had also shown interest, the railway official said there was little hope of this since such companies were themselves facing a funds crunch.
But he was also candid enough to admit that the slow tendering process had perhaps kept away some companies like engineering and infrastructure major Larsen and Toubro and Delhi-based realty developer DLF.
Both these companies had expressed interest in the modernisation of the New Delhi Railway Station and bid for the tender. But they have been waiting for a final outcome for over a year.
'This is obviously deterring some players. But they must understand our compulsions,' the official explained.
Freight carried by Indian Railways has grown at an average of nine percent per annum over the past five years and the ministry has set an ambitious target of hauling 1.1 billion tonnes of freight by the end of the 11th Plan in 2011-12.
'Multi-modal logistics parks will be the hubs for providing end-to-end solutions for the supply-chain management of industrial customers and shall be well-served by rail and road connectivity,' the official said.
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irse
Forum Admin
India
553 Posts |
Posted - 03/16/2009 : 07:48:46
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http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=2144
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Gimmickry is something Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav is well known for. The
recent being the proposed eastern freight corridor, which will be inaugurated
for the second time. The foundation stone for the project was laid by Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh in September 2006 at Ludhiana, months before elections
were held in Punjab.
This time around he has chosen his home State Bihar for a 105-km stretch from
near Mughal Sarai to near Sonnagar, a stretch, where a third railway line
largely dedicated to goods traffic already exists. It is used for transporting
coal. The freight projects, both eastern and western are targeted for completion
in 2015 provided the actual work begins now. However, in all probability these
are going to be delayed.
The railway budget for 2006-07 had announced the eastern and western freight
corridor projects, which are expected to cost Rs 28,181 crore and Rs 16,592
crore respectively. The eastern corridor is proposed to extend from Ludhiana to
Dankuni, 20 km from the Kolkata port, wherein logically it should have been
extended to Kolkata or the Haldia port.
Lalu is a showman alright. He has a talent to cover up his tracks. He did so as
Bihar#65533;#65533;s Chief Minister and has now extended it to the Indian Railways. So, he
doesn#65533;#65533;t find anything wrong in inaugurating the Eastern freight corridor, which
was originally to extend from Ludhiana to Kolkata, for the second time. All
this, despite the fact that an inauguration is not without a cost to the
exchequer. Each such programme has many overt and hidden costs. It is not merely
borne by the railways but many such costs have to be borne by the State
governments, involving areas like transportation, law and order, security and
other paraphernalia.
The freight corridors are no longer a novelty as are being touted. The corridors
have been discussed for many years. In fact the need was felt and stressed in
the eighties. No major project comes up in a day. It is a slow process, which
includes processes, evaluations and cost studies before it is finally launched.
For a major project like this no single railway minister could claim credit. In
fact, the ministers are clearly incidental as projects are evolved owing to
their functional utility. These are conceived and given shape by railway
officials and engineers often in consultation with State governments and the
Planning Commission.
While the corporate world is well-versed with repeating shows to launch their
products in the metros and major cities, if the same is done by the Railways it
does cause concern. This is so because the Railways are not as cash rich as its
minister would have it projected. In fact, one could say that the image is
engineered, like Lalu being the #65533;#65533;management guru#65533;#65533;. The Railways paid Rs 50
lakhs to IIM, Ahmedabad for organizing the minister#65533;#65533;s #65533;#65533;management#65533;#65533; lecture. A
similar exercise is said to have been undertaken with Harvard University as
well.
Interestingly, even as Lalu has declared a surplus of Rs 25,000 crore in 2008-09
budget, the Railways is in search of foreign funding assistance, including a
loan from Japan, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB). Apparently, it
is clarified in this year#65533;#65533;s budget that the actual surplus is not more than Rs
5,000 crore, if the borrowings of Rs 8,000 crore are taken into account.
Barring the Japanese government, no one else has yet made a commitment. However,
Japan has refused to give any assistance for the eastern corridor as its
estimates did not find the corridor a viable project. The reason being that the
returns would be lower as Kolkata being a riverine port is not expected to
generate the amount of traffic required. And thus, the eastern corridor is seen
to have fallen behind the western corridor project, which the Japanese have
decided to support.
This has forced the Railways to take up the small section of 105-km in Bihar
from its own resources. The total proposed length of the corridor is however,
1805 km, but the Railways have chosen to remain silent about the rest of length.
There is much apprehension in the railway ministry that the 105-km section may
lock up funds as work would be going in a piecemeal manner.
Till now, the railways had approached the World Bank for $2.5-billion assistance
and the ADB for technical assistance for the eastern corridor. But no commitment
has yet been received. Understandably so, as the world economy is passing
through a critical phase, wherein it is unclear from whether funding from the
two institutions would be forthcoming.
Tokyo has committed to ODA loan of Rs 17045 crores, for the first phase of the
western corridor. This amounts to 62 per cent of the total cost of Rewari #65533;C
Vadodara stretch. It is also likely to provide a similar loan for the second
stage of the western corridor, extending to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in
Mumbai. The PM had laid the foundation stone for the project on October 5, 2006.
Sadly, since there has been little progress on construction activity, the
financial tie-ups have not been finalized. Work on both the projects was to
begin in the current financial year, but it is not possible now.
A close look at the projects shows that the first works that need to be taken up
are 54 important bridges over a stretch of 200-km on the Western corridor, and
105-Km section on the eastern Corridor. While bids for project management
consultancy as well as turn-key contracts in these sub-projects have reportedly
been received, their evaluation is yet to be completed. It is difficult to
understand why are politicians announce such inauguration jamborees when outcome
is clearly doubtful?
Shivaji Sarkar, INFA
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2009 : 09:26:30
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Plan panel readies blueprints for rail freight corridors
http://profit.ndtv.com/2009/05/19145912/Plan-panel-readies-blueprints.html
Tuesday, May 19, 2009 (New Delhi)
The Planning Commission has prepared the blueprints for four more dedicated rail freight corridors, which could be taken by the new UPA government likely to assume office shortly.
In addition to the ongoing Ludhiana-Kolkata (Eastern Corridor) and Delhi-Mumbai (Western Corridor), the Commission has developed blueprints for Kolkata-Mumbai, Delhi-Chennai, Kharagpur-Vijayawada and Chennai-Goa dedicated freight corridor projects, former Member of the Planning Commission Anwarul Hoda said.
"The commission is ready with the plan for four dedicated freight corridors -- Kolkata-Mumbai, Delhi-Chennai, Kharagpur-Vijayawada and Chennai-Goa," he said.
These four projects would be implemented during the second term of the UPA government, he said adding, these projects are double rail line projects.
State-run Dedicated Railway Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited established in October 2006, is implementing the Ludhiana-Kolkata and Delhi-Mumbai freight corridors, which are also called Eastern and Western freight corridor, respectively.
The total length of these two corridors is around 2,762 km and the project is likely to entail an investment of over Rs 28,000 crore to Rs 37,000 crore.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2009 : 00:56:04
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Freight corridor throws up land puzzle for Didi
31 May 2009, 0308 hrs IST, Jayanta Gupta, TNN
KOLKATA: How will railway minister Mamata Banerjee handle the issue of land acquisition should she succeed in pushing through the extension of the eastern freight corridor from Sonnagar to Kolkata? According to senior railway officials, though the dedicated freight corridor will run parallel to the existing tracks, there will be a distance between the two. Land will have to be acquired at most places for tracks to be laid.
According to sources, the total land that may have to be acquired will be huge. Apart from the stretch on which the tracks will be laid, land will be required on the sides and for freight hubs. Given the problems with land acquisition in West Bengal, the project may run into trouble. On the other hand, even if the freight corridor were to come upto Kolkata, the general masses would not benefit much.
It's been nearly four years now since the railways planned the corridors from Ludhiana in the north and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (Mumbai) in the west. The one from Ludhiana was to culminate in Kolkata and the latter at Tughlaquabad or Dadri. The two corridors were to meet at Khurja. A special purpose vehicle was created to undertake the project, part of which was to be funded by Japan. There were differences between Japan and the Indian Railways later. The project is now to be funded by multiple agencies including the World Bank. Funds may also have to be raised from the market. Both corridors will cover nearly 2,762 km and the total cost has been pegged at over Rs 28,000 crore.
"Initially, the eastern corridor was to run upto Kolkata. However, doubts were raised about the feasibility of the stretch between Sonnagar and Kolkata. Finally, it was decided to end the corridor at Sonnagar itself. Left Front MPs have already raised a lot of hue and cry on the subject. Now Mamata has promised to extend the corridor upto Kolkata. If she persists, she may get into trouble over land acquisition," a senior officer said.
Officers have suggested that she stick to issues related to passenger amenities and better services. These areas have been neglected in the last few years. Among the steps taken by her predecessor were to add more berths in sleeper class, chair car and AC III-tier compartments. This resulted in great discomfort to passengers and the move was scuttled. The Rajdhani menu was also altered. A number of people have raised their voice against this.
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irse
Forum Admin
India
553 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2009 : 12:40:28
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http://www.mydigita lfc.com/monetary -policy/rs- 13500cr-japanese -loan-railways- soon-692
Jun 02 2009 2212 hrs IST , New Delhi
Four months and the railways may get the much awaited over Rs 13,500 crore loan from Japan Bank for International Corporation (JBIC) for the western dedicated freight corridor (DFC).
To begin with, the railway ministry will sign a
Rs 130-crore loan agreement with JBIC next month. It will also send the Rs 4,000-crore step-loan proposal for Cabinet approval soon. “We will sign a Rs 130-crore engineering services loan next month. The final amount will come by October-November this year,” a senior railway ministry official told Financial Chronicle.
Under the step-loan agreement, the railways will buy equipment, technology worth Rs 4,000 crore from Japan instead of repayment. The ministry official, who did not want to be named, said it was fine with the railways to accept the step-loan term as Japan was providing equipment at the international competitive prices.
“They are giving us loan at mere 0.1 per cent interest rate. Also, the prices of equipment that we’ll be buying from the Japanese companies are at par with world prices. There are no reasons why we should not agree to their terms,” said the official.
The ministry official involved with the project will send the proposal to the new railway minister Mamta Banerjee for her approval before putting it before the Cabinet.
Spread over 1,469 km, the western corridor will be constructed from Dadri to Mumbai, passing through the states of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra at an estimated cost of
Rs 23,680 crore.
The railways have already made a provision of gross budgetary support of Rs 1,250 crore. JBIC funding is expected only for the western corridor and would first consider funding of the Rewari-Vadodara section.
The ministry is also confident of getting about Rs 10,000 crore loan from World Bank for its eastern corridor. The WB team has already visited the railways’ office five times to evaluate the nitty-gritty of the project and is expected to sign an agreement by March 2010.
“They will first do a pre-appraisal study, then appraisal study before signing any agreement. We are in regular touch with them and coordinating with all the information that they need for the project. There will be no delay in signing the loan agreement. It will be as per the schedule,” the railway official said.
Echoing similar views a WB official said, “We are in the process of due diligence. We require a lot of information related to the contracts, bidding etc. We have already given them $3 million for preparation study,” said the official on the condition of anonymity.
The finance ministry had, last year, asked the WB to give about Rs 10,000 crore to the railways for the 1,767-km Eastern corridor. The corridor will start from Ludhiana in Punjab and will pass through Haryana, Uttar Pradesh before terminating at Son Nagar in Bihar. The loan will be for 17 years with a grace period of three years.
The railways will raise about 7,800 crore from internal sources and Rs 1,250 crore will come from the gross budgetary support. The CCEA had, in March 2008, approved the work of DFC projects. The two projects are likely to cost about Rs 38,000 crore to the railways
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2009 : 02:22:51
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expedite rly projects, clear pending proposals' Email this page
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New Delhi, June 18 (PTI) The government should fast track the dedicated rail freight corridor project and clear pending proposals for private participation to enhance the growth of the railway sector, industry body Assocham said. In a 20-point agenda submitted to the Railway Ministry, the chamber also suggested modernising railway stations, improving passenger amenities and using vacant land for commercial purpose through PPP initiatives.
"Despite improvement in the financial position, the Indian railways continue to face serious issues such as outdated technology, poor state of railway stations, lack of basic passenger amenities, capacity constraints and shortage of funds for investment," it said.
The Indian Railways need to ensure an increased contribution of the rail sector towards infrastructure creation and enhancing the growth pace of the Indian economy, Assocham President Sajjan Jindal said.
He said the government should clear the proposals for private participation pending with the ministry on priority basis and modernisation of railway stations should be taken on priority basis
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 08/13/2009 : 04:26:34
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Thursday, August 13, 2009
Railways plan logistics parks along freight corridors
New Delhi: The railway ministry is going to start negotiations with state governments this month for identifying locations for setting up of multi-modal logistics parks (MMLPs) along the Diamond Rail Corridors (dedicated freight corridors), an official at the railway ministry revealed.
Talks will be held with the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab,Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal to facilitate the establishment of these hubs.
“The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd has also been asked to decide on sites for setting up the proposed logistics parks,” he said.
These logistics parks, spanning an area of around 400-500 hectares, would be developed through participative funding on a public-private partnership basis. The MMLPs would house rail sidings with sheds, large inland container depots, warehouses for storage, office buildings for logistics operators and assembly units for processing raw materials for export.
Such state-of-the-art integrated logistic facilities with mechanised handling and intelligent inventory management at strategic locations, it is said, will reduce the overall logistics cost in the supply chain for customers by leveraging the high-capacity rail connectivity of the Diamond Rail Corridors.
Earnings from transport of goods make up two-thirds of Indian Railways’ revenue. Freight traffic has been particularly hit in the global recession
To improve the proportion of freight on railways, the ministry is preparing plans to encourage private ownership of rolling stock for commodities. “To ensure optimal utilisation of available rakes for transporting goods, the ministry is considering permitting private parties to make use of surplus capacity,” the ministry official informed.
A new policy is also being formulated to allow construction and operation of private freight terminals. Organisations which purchase land in proximity to rail stations and decide to avail of railway services at their expense would be eligible for operating such terminals, the official said. The details of the proposal are being finalised.
Source: Business Standard
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2009 : 19:55:04
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Railways invite bidders to set up high-capacity bogie units
http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/663956/National/1/20/1
New Delhi, Sept 2 Setting into motion its plan to roll out high-capacity freight bogies, Railways have floated tenders inviting prospective bidders for setting up of manufacturing units in Majerhat (Kolkata) and at Dalmianagar in Bihar.
Both the factories will be set up under public-private partnership (PPP) mode within five years and will produce 25,000 freight bogies each.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced the setting up the two
manufacturing units in her Railway Budget speech this year.
She has also set up an expert committee headed by Amit Mitra to suggest innovative measures to execute railway projects under the PPP mode.
Both the projects are estimated to be established at a cost of Rs 100 crore each.
Railways have fixed September 28 as the due date for submission of application.
These manufacturing units will use latest technologies to produce the freight bogies which will have a higher axle load capacity of 25 to 32.5 tonnes Execution of the dedicated freight corridor project in the coming years is also expected to raise the demand for high-capacity bogies.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2009 : 20:24:23
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Punjab and Haryana to benefit from Freight corridor project
Komal Amit Gera / New Delhi/ Chandigarh September 08, 2009, 0:43 IST
The prestigious Eastern Freight Corridor project (from Son Nagar to Ludhiana route length 1,280 km) of the Union Ministry of Railways, would pass through a stretch of 160 km in the states of Punjab and Haryana.
According to the sources in the DGCC (Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd), a public sector undertaking constituted exclusively for the execution of this project by the Ministry of Railways, notification of 20A in regard to the land acquisition has been issued for 130 hectares out of 440 hectares to be acquired in Haryana and Punjab.
A competent authority by the state government would be nominated under the supervision of the revenue departments of both the states.
The survey for the land acquisition is in the process. A railway station at a distance of every 10 km would be constructed.
There will be 16 stations on the 160-km stretch which would be separate from the Indian Railways' network of stations.
Three rail flyovers, one each near Ambala, between Sirhind and Mandi Gobindgarh and between Shambhu-Rajpura would be put up.
A huge logistic park, measuring 2 km in length and 100 m in width near Doraha in district Ludhiana, would be an integral part of this massive infrastructure project.
An estimated cost of the total project is over Rs 25,000 crore and is likely to mobilise an investment of a few thousand crores in Punjab and Haryana.
It would be a double-line track from Howarah to Khurja and single-line from Khurja to Ludhiana.
But there would be a provision of double line up to Ludhiana and the land acquisition would be done keeping in mind the future needs, said sources.
The project is expected to be completed by 2014.
To begin with, the length of the Freight train would be 600 m (one Freight train can carry the load of over 150 trucks) which could be extended to a length of 1.2 km with the increase in demand.
The project aims to cater to seven thermal power plants in the region of which Bhatinda, Kalnaur and Rajpura are operational and Talwandi Sabo, Giddarbah and Patiala are in the pipeline.
The industrial clusters of steel, leather, sports goods, utensils, textiles, cycles, automobile ancillaries, tractor manufacturers and the agriculture sector would be immensely benefitted by this project.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2009 : 10:33:48
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Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) under the Special Terms of Economic Partnership (STEP) Scheme of the Government of Japan for the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) Project.
14:3 IST
The Union Cabinet today approved the proposal for availing Japanese ODA assistance for implementation of the Western Corridor of the DFC project, the first phase of the assistance being estimated at Rs.17,700 crores for the Rewari-Vadodara Section and to start with an engineering services loan of approximately Rs.130 crores. The Japanese ODA loan is a soft loan with very low interest of 0.2% per annum (0.01% p.a. for consulting services), long repayment period of 30/40 years and a moratorium of 10 years. Approval has also been given for the terms and conditions of the tied loan which are briefly enumerated below :
Terms and Conditions of the STEP Loan:
(i) Prime Contractors must be Japanese firms. Joint Ventures (JV) with firms incorporated and re registered in recipient countries are also allowed to be a Prime Contractor, provided a Japanese firm is a lead partner. Sub-contractors may be from any country.
(ii) Not less than 30% of the total amount of contracts (excluding consulting services) financed by the STEP loan must be accounted for by goods and services from Japan. Here, procurement of goods from firms which are joint ventures in a recipient country and in certain developing countries can also be regarded as goods from Japan, subject to certain conditions.
(iii) In the case of consulting services, the prime Contractor i.e. the Consultants will be either Japanese or a joint venture with Indian partners where the total share of work of Japanese partners in the Joint venture is more than 50% of the contract amount.
Background:
In order to augment the rail transport capacity to meet the growing requirement of movement of freight traffic, Indian Railways have decided to develop Freight Corridors along its busy trunk routes. The Dedicated Freight Project on the Western and Eastern routes is one of the most ambitious project but Indian Railway has ever taken up and once completed would meet the transport requirement of the two busy trunk routes for the next 15 to 20 years.
The DFC project envisages a Western DFC (1483 kms) from Jawahar Lal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai to Tughlakabad and Dadri near Delhi to cater largely to the container transport requirements to and from the existing and emerging ports in Maharashtra and Gujarat and Eastern DFC from Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni (1806 KMS) NEAR Kolkata to be extended in future to serve the new deep sea port in Kolkata area, and to largely serve coal and steel traffic.
Funding for the Western DFC has been sought from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under the STEP Scheme of the Government of Japan and Government of Japan have conveyed their commitment to the assistance of entire Western corridor.
Implementation strategy and targets:
To implement the DFC project Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd. (DFCCIL) has been incorporated in October, 2006 as a fully owned subsidiary of Ministry of Railways under Companies Act 1956. The project is to be financed through a capital structure of 2:1 debt to equity ratio with most of the debt coming from multilateral/bilateral agencies like ADB/World Bank/JICA. The Project is likely to be completed by 2017.
Major Impact:
The Dedicated Freight Corridor Project is an important infrastructure project recently identified as an ‘ICONIC’ project to be specially monitored. By connecting the raw material production areas with the consumption centers and linking both to major ports, DFC will positively impact overall growth rates and efficiency in the Indian economy. Further, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) coming up along the Western DFC will have a multiplier effect on industrial production, employment generation and development of the region as whole.
Expenditure involved:
The cost of the Western DFC Project is estimated to be Rs.26, 124 crores as per current prices.
Number of beneficiaries:
Power Houses, Mines, Ports, Industrial installations, manufacturing units, agricultureal sector, Services sector and the population in the States of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan would be benefited.
States/Districts covered:
States of Gujarat, Maharashtra & Rajasthan are covered by the Western DFC Project.
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irse
Forum Admin
India
553 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2009 : 00:03:03
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http://news. webindia123. com/news/ ar_showdetails. asp?id=909170386 &cat=&n_date= 20090917
New Delhi |Thursday, 2009 4:35:11 PM IST
The government Thursday approved a Japanese soft loan for the Rs.26,124 crore ($5.4 billion) dedicated railway freight corridor stretching 1,483 km from Navi Mumbai to the national capital, an infrastructure project that has been described as “iconic”.
“The cabinet today (Thursday) approved the proposal for availing Japanese ODA (overseas development assistance) for implementing the western corridor of the DFC (dedicated freight corridor) project,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“The first phase of the assistance is estimated at Rs.17,700 crore for the Rewari-Vadodara section. To start with, an engineering services loan of approximately Rs.130 crore will be received,” Soni added.
The western DFC will stretch from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Navi Mumbai to Dadri in Uttar Pradesh on the capital's outskirts through Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
“The loan comes at a very low interest of 0.2 per annum, a long repayment period of 30-40 years and a moratorium of 10 years,” Soni said.
Under the terms of the loan, the prime contractors for the project must be Japanese firms.
“Joint ventures with firms incorporated and re-registered in recipient countries are also allowed to be prime contractors, provided a Japanese firm is a lead partner. Sub-contractors may be from any country,” Soni pointed out.
This apart, not less than 30 percent of the total amount of contracts (excluding consulting services) financed by the loan must be accounted for by goods and services from Japan.
“The western DFC is an important infrastructure project recently identified as an iconic project to be specially monitored," Soni said.
“By connecting the raw material production areas with the consumption centres and linking both to major ports, DFC will positively impact overall growth rates and efficiency in the Indian economy.
“Further, the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor (DMIC) coming up along the western DFC will have a multiplier effect on industrial production, employment generation and development of the region as whole,” she added.
Indian Railways have decided to develop the western and eastern DFCs along its busy trunk routes to augment the transport capacity and meet the growing requirements of moving freight.
The two DFCs are “one of the most ambitious projects Indian Railways has ever taken up. Once completed, they would meet the transport requirement of the two busy trunk routes for the next 15 to 20 years”, an official statement said.
The eastern DFC, the modalities for which are being worked out, will extend 1,806 km from Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni near Kolkata. It will be extended in future to serve the new deep sea port in the Kolkata area and to largely serve coal and steel traffic.
Rajendra Saxena |
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irse
Forum Admin
India
553 Posts |
Posted - 10/07/2009 : 06:14:57
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'Freight corridor project is moving with decent speed'
Q&A: V K Kaul, Managing Director, DFCCI
Sharmistha Mukherjee & Vandana Gombar / New Delhi October 7, 2009, 0:23 IST
The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCI) is building what would be the country’s largest infrastructure project involving almost 3,300 kilometres of railway track. The cost of the project has now ballooned to Rs 60,000 crore, which is more than double the Cabinet-approved project cost of Rs 28,000 crore. Nevertheless, V K Kaul, the managing director of the company, tells Sharmistha Mukherjee and Vandana Gombar that the project is viable and would be completed by 2018, with commissioning starting in 2016. Excerpts:
What is the final estimate of the total project cost?
The cost estimate is Rs 42,231 crore at current prices, excluding various statutory taxes, which vary from state to state. Those taxes would add 8-10 per cent more to the project. This is bound to escalate. We have come to the conclusion that it will be around Rs 60,000 crore on completion and commissioning.
What is the main reason for the sharp cost escalation?
The initial estimate was based on a preliminary survey. At that time, the project was at a conceptual stage. It was put up to the Cabinet and was approved at an approximate estimated cost of 28,000 crore, but the Cabinet did say that the railways ministry could come back with a firm costing.
Is this a viable project? There are some concerns…
There was a study done by RITES initially. Then the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) did a study and we have commissioned IL&FS to do the traffic projections. Even after taking into account the economic slowdown, the internal rate of return is about 9 per cent in the worst case scenario, and without taking any traffic share from Indian Railways. It could go up to 15-16 per cent in the best case scenario.
How will the recent decision of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee to abstain from any forcible acquisition of land affect the project? Have you already received updated instructions from the ministry?
We have been asked to provide details on the land acquisition in progress by the ministry a few days ago, including the details of the representations received and our responses. Land acquisition is done by the railway ministry. DFCCI is only the facilitator. There are 51 districts involved covering more than 3,200 villages. But remember it is not large tracts of land that we require. What we need is only strips of land (10 metres wide) across existing alignments or a little more (40-50 metres) in the case of a bypass.
If land acquisition is to be only voluntary, can one non-cooperative land owner hold up a whole stretch?
That is if you go by the literal meaning of what the minister said. I think it needs to be taken in the right spirit. It is a confidence-building measure by the minister saying that the land won’t be snatched away by the government forcibly for a pittance. We will compensate, reasonably.
How much of the land required is already with the corporation?
The first notification (announcing intention of the government to acquire the land) have been issued and we have received some representations also. Most of the issues relate to quantum of compensation. We expect to have 70 per cent of the land with us in about a year.
With the Japanese International Cooperation Agency approving a conditional loan of Rs 17,700 crore for the western corridor, it seems this will precede the eastern corridor.
No. Both will move simultaneously. There is a Rs 10,000-crore loan from the World Bank for the eastern corridor likely to be finalised by July 2010 and probably another Rs 7,000 crore from the Asian Development Bank by December 2010. There is an additional loan that is likely from JICA for the western corridor which is likely to materialise in March 2011. Once the funding is made, we will invite international bids, though obviously, bids for the whole corridor will not be bunched together but staggered.
The loan from JICA is conditional. Does this tie us down to Japanese locomotives?
I want to clarify this point. The conditionality is that 30 per cent of the total loan amount should be used to buy some goods from Japan. The railway ministry has decided to procure electric locomotives. Half of these will be brought into the country in knocked-down condition and assembled locally. There will also be some technology transfer and local manufacturing. Also, this purchase does not tie us down to Japan. It does not prevent us from sourcing locomotives from any other part of the world.
How would you describe the progress of the project?
I think the project is moving with reasonable speed.
Rajendra Saxena |
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 10/24/2009 : 23:05:25
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* Japan tells India to speed up freight track project
Cha-Am Hua Hin (Thailand), Oct 24 (PTI) Japan, a major partner in the Indian Railways? Rs 60,000 crore dedicated freight corridor project, today said it would like the project implemented at the earliest.
In his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said the building of exclusive rail lines for freight carriers along with dedicated industrial corridor should take shape fast.
Singh agreed with Hatoyama that these projects should be completed without delays. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the ASEAN summits here.
"The Prime Minister underscored the importance of an early finalisation of major economic initiatives that the two sides have jointly begun, in particular the dedicated freight corridor project," Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs N Ravi said after the meeting. |
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DFC-dedicated freight corridor
