Indian Railways to build industrial rail corridor in Chhattisgarh

The Indian Railways would construct an industrial rail corridor to improve transportation from the tracks in the mineral rich states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

The industrial rail corridor would be build with an estimated cost of Rs 40,000 crore. “The rail minister, Dinesh Trivedi on Wednesday gave his consent to go ahead with the project at a high level meeting convened here to review of progress of rail infrastructure,” a top state government told Business Standard.

The senior rail officials have been asked to take up the project on priority and constitute a committee to study the feasibility and prepare the work plan. The committee has been asked to submit the preliminary report within one week. The stipuated period of the project would be nearly 10 years, the officials said.

The issue of industrial rail corridor was raised by the state government during the review meeting. The state officials briefed the rail minister about the project and said on completion, it would double the freight revenue earned by the railways in the section. Trivedi gave his consent for the project and asked the officials to start the work.

The state officials said that the proposed industrial rail corridor would pass through the pockets that have more than two dozens coal blocks. The corridor would connect Raigarh district with Lohardaga district in Jharkhand. Both the pockets have been endowed with high class coal deposits. The corridor would also connect the Northern part of Chhattisgarh that had also been gifted with rich coal deposits.