Indian Railways' ambitious project of developing Dedicated Freight Corridors, conceived to change the face of its freight traffic business, is set to suffer inordinate delays due to troubles in land acquisition and various other issues.
This alternative is being planned as the existing projects continue to be delayed due to land acquisition troubles. The ministry is thinking of adding new track lines to its existing eastern and western DFCs passing major areas in the proposed stretches, senior officials said.
Two dedicated freight corridors -- Eastern and Western -- are in operation covering several states and districts.
Mitsubishi, Itochu, Bombardier, Siemens, GE and Alstom want piece of action.
Officials say funds and land likely to be tied up by the end of this year.
Work on the much-delayed dedicated railway freight corridor is expected to begin with contracts worth Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) to be awarded before the end of the current financial year.
According to senior ministry officials, the loan is expected to be approved within six months. The plan is to construct two rail corridors between Delhi-Mumbai (western corridor) and Delhi-Kolkata (eastern corridor). These would be exclusively for freight trains and run parallel to the national highways connecting the four metros.
The double-line pilot section will be commissioned with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore.
Indian and global construction companies vying for Rs 12,000 crore worth of civil works for Dedicated Freight Corridor.
The 190-km railway line will be between Dadri in Uttar Pradesh and Phulera in Rajasthan, which fall under the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor
The incident occurred between Saradhna and Bangad stations of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor on the Phulera-Ahmedabad stretch.
Construction is supposed to begin in 2017, with completion slated for 2023.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Monday a record sum of Rs 1.10 lakh crore for the Railways, out of which Rs 1.07 lakh crore is for capital expenditure, and said the national transporter would monetise the dedicated freight corridors after its commissioning. Presenting the Union Budget 2021-22, Sitharaman also applauded the services provided by the Railways to transport essential goods across the country during the coronavirus lockdown.
Each logistics park will have a container terminal for both domestic and international operations, mineral-handling terminals, cement and fertiliser terminals, automobile terminals, storage and distribution as well as trans shipment facilities, conventional, cold storage and product-specific warehouses as well as hotels, banks, food parks and entertainment centres. Logistics companies said the multi-modal logistics parks offer a huge growth opportunity.
Whatever be the political coalition that comes to power at the Centre after May 16, the new government will have five ongoing projects to kick-start a sluggish economy.
Built by the French railway technology company Alstom, it will host a 90-metre-long digital wall for train operation, said to be the second largest in Asia.
The ministry has also decided to offer station for redevelopment by inviting open bids from companies.
Container Corporation of India (Concor) has been the worst performer among major logistics & port stocks registering returns of about 4 per cent over the past three months as compared to 10-12 per cent for peers Gateway Distriparks and Adani Ports and SEZ. Uncertain outlook on the export-import (EXIM) trade front, market share loss, lack of progress on divestment, and weak June quarter results weighed on the stock. Volume and margin movement will be key triggers for the stock going ahead. As was the case in the previous quarter, margin performance was muted even in the June quarter. Operating profit in the quarter was down 17 per cent at Rs 391 crore missing estimates by over 15 per cent. Operating profit margins at 20.4 per cent, too, were down sharply by 350 basis points over the year-ago quarter.
Govt has already approached World Bank seeking termination of contract. The progress of the project was just 20 per cent though the contract was awarded in 2016.
Currently, the travel time between Mumbai and Delhi varies between 16 and 30 hours.
The strong message from the prime minister is of continuity of policies he considers right with strong emphasis on execution, points out T N C Rajagopalan.
He accused the previous governments of being sluggish on implementing railway projects and said the work of ambitious eastern and western dedicated freight corridors expedited only in the last six-seven years.
To facilitate foreign direct investment (FDI) in high- speed rail projects, the government is likely to allow private sector entry in operations.
On these routes, the train speed would also be increased to above 160 kmph over the next four or five years by revamping the entire signaling, tracks and fencing.
It will also provide support to the government for finalising the financial and implementation models.
Expect Modi to speak about internal security, terrorism, agriculture, the Triple Talaq Bill, the SC/ST Bill and, of course, the controversial NRC.
The PM is in Mumbai on a two-day visit.
The infrastructure sector received a huge facelift in the last nine years with improvement in road and railway networks, power generation and teledensity, among others, says the UPA government's report card.
The government has also set targets for the next 25 years. We are working on the target of becoming a $5-10 trillion economy as well as taking exports to a record high, he said.
In all, 25 Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) posts, 8 MD posts and 2 Chairman posts are lying vacant, according to a written reply by Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises P Radhakrishnan in the Lok Sabha.
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Despite being cheaper, the Chinese technology is not the preferred option.
Since January this year, Indian exporters have begun to dread the shipping news. That's because most of it would be about another lot of shipping companies deciding to avoid Indian ports on account of delays.
Under the plan, there will be 151 private trains covering 109 routes which may entail investments worth Rs 30,000 crore.
During the 13th annual summit, the two prime ministers reviewed developments in bilateral relations and explored new areas of cooperation, focusing on shared vision for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, where China is flexing its muscles.
Govt wants to up investment in Railways
Indian Railways is currently implementing a project that involves laying of a broad gauge line connecting Nangaldam to Talwara in Himachal Pradesh.
Be it roads, railways, ports, civil aviation, energy or electricity, the Narendra Modi govt has invigorated all these sectors since it took over, says Arvind Panagariya.
Hemant Shivsaran lists the number of projects the Modi government has announced since August to woo Gujarat voters.
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