JICA agrees to lend Rs 200 bn for mega corridor project

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) agreed to lend JPY 295 billion (about Rs 20,000 crore) for the two routes in the proposed Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project.

The agency would lend this amount under Special Terms of Economic Participation (STEP) between Japan and India. This is a soft loan with the repayment period of 40 years.

The project appraisal for the two routes comprising Vadodara to Jawharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) and Rewari to Dadri in the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor was signed recently between JICA and Indian Railways, reports suggest.

Container transport between JNPT and Delhi is expected to get a boost with the implementation of the 1,499 km Western DFC. The corridor would run between Mumbai and Dadri near Delhi via Tughlakbad.

It would also cater to the transport requirement between the existing and emerging ports in western India and northern hinterland. With this loan, funding of the entire Western Dedicated Freight Corridor from Delhi to Mumbai is being taken care of and now the focus will be for speedy execution of the project, reports suggest.

It is learnt that out of total 3608 hectare required in phase-I, 3,186 hectare has been acquired. For the phase II, out of total 2,252 hectare required, 1,041 hectare have been acquired.