Industry and trade associations have welcomed the announcement of a dedicated east-west freight corridor between Mumbai and Delhi and Delhi and Kolkata, terming it a step in the right direction.They said this corridor would remove bottlenecks faced by the industry in the movement of goods to and from the ports.Welcoming the announcement, president of Indian Merchant chambers, Rajesh Kapadia said, "The rail budget has finally made provisions for a dedicated freight corridor, a demand which has been long pending. The road network is highly congested and is getting overcrowded despite initiatives like the Golden Quadrilateral."Kapadia also welcomed the railway minister's initiative in not raising freight rates. This, he said, would give stability to industrial costs in the current competitive times and attract more goods traffic to the railways as road transport cost are constantly increasing given the hikes in diesel prices.Chairman of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industries' committee on logistics and transportation, C R Nambiar, said, "The government has been talking about the project for a long time. Now, it's time for concrete action on the ground and it should ensure that project sees the light of the day without facing the usual bureaucratic hurdles. Everyone around the world is optimistic about India's economy but when it comes to infrastructure, apprehensions are expressed and if this project indeed implemented will help India to attract more foreign direct investment."Nambiar also welcomed the proposed public private partnerships in the movement of container traffic and said it will also help to increase the competitiveness of the government owned Container Corporation of India.K S Nagi of Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce and Industries said, "This project will help not only to speed up the movement of goods in the country but also increase the speed of passenger trains as currently both kinds of traffic move on the same set of tracks."The general secretary of the Trans Thane Creek Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Association (TTC), R K Khosla, said, "Transportation of goods in India is a big headache for industries. It consumes a lot of the energy of small and medium entrepreneurs is lost in ensuring that they receive raw materials in time and are able to supply the finished goods on time."When this dedicated freight corridor comes up, small and medium interrupters will be really blessed and can concentrate their energies on expanding their businesses," he added.
