Govt invites private firms to participate in rail projects

Indian Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on April 4 invited private companies to participate in Indian rail projects including the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC). He added that there is tremendous scope for private investments in rail projects.

Stressing the need to declog the road network in the country, the Minister insisted transporting bulk goods through rail instead of roadways as it would be cost effective and environment friendly. The 570 km long corridor from Sonnagar to Dankuni in the Eastern DFC will be executed through PPP route, Bansal said at a conference Delhi.

The Eastern and Western corridors of DFC are being constructed covering a length of 3,328 km route for exclusive freight movement in the country.

Giving the timeline, Bansal said that the DFC project has to be completed by 2018 which is an uphill task. There is a tangible progress as 87 per cent land has been acquired. It would cost about Rs 95,000 crore including land acquisition cost, he added. Currently, the share of railways in goods transportation is 36 per cent whereas in the US and China the share is 48 per cent and 47 per cent, respectively.