Concession agreement for Chhattisgarh east rail corridor

South-East-Central Railway (SECR) and Chhattisgarh East Railway Ltd (CERL) had signed concession agreement for the construction of eastern railway corridor in Chhattisgarh.

With signing of concession agreement, first phase of construction of eastern corridor from Korba to Kharsiya covering some 74 km would start. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 2323 crore. The authorities had set a target to complete the construction work by September 2017.

In all, around 180-km long rail line would be developed under the East Corridor taking the route of Kharsia-Chhal-Gharghoda-Korichhapar-Dharamjaygarh-Korba to connect coal mines of Gare-Pelma block. Besides passengers, the rail corridor would felicitate freight movement mainly coal.

The project would be developed by special project vehicle (SPV), Chhattisgarh East Rail Ltd. The South Eastern Coalfields Ltd, a subsidiary and flagship entity of the Coal India Limited (CIL), holds its 64 per cent stake, while Indian Railways promoted IRCON has 26 per cent share and Chhattisgarh government 10 per cent.

Under the concession agreement, SECR and CERL would have 50-50 share in the revenue earned from transportation of goods through the rail corridor for next 30 years. CERL would look after construction and maintenance of the railway corridor whereas SECR would manage the goods and passenger transportation services.

Chhattisgarh is developing another rail corridor. It would be called East-West Corridor that would cover 122 km from Gevra Road to Pendra. The corridor would help in evacuation of coal as Gevra region had been endowed with rich mineral reserves and had Asia's biggest coal mine operated by SECL.