The much-awaited Rs 450 crore project of gauge conversion of the Gandhidham-Palanpur railway line, which will provide a major boost to Kandla and Mundra ports in Gujarat, has got underway with the participating parties signing a memorandum of understanding to convert the existing metre gauge line into broad gauge by 2006. | This will be the second project in Saurashtra, where the railways has sought private sector participation for either setting up a rail network or gauge conversion. |
| The consortium of Mundra port, the government of Gujarat, Kandla Port Trust (KPT) and the Indian Railways have signed an MOU, with the key objective of forming a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for construction, operation and maintenance of the 313-km Gandhidham-Palanpur railway gauge conversion project. |
| The SPV will be called the Kutch Railway Company and while the Railways will put in 50 per cent of the funds, KPT will put in 26 per cent, Adani Group 20 per cent and the government of Gujarat four per cent in the project. |
| The project cost is envisaged at Rs 450 crore and is expected to be completed by 2006. |
| This is one of the key projects of the Rail Vikas Yojna, which was initiated by the prime minister last year. |
| This is also another example of private public sector participation (PPP) in infrastructure projects. |
| The Palanpur-Gandhidham route comprises 301 kms and is divided into three sections "" the Palanpur- Bhildi section which is of a length of 45.50 km, the Bhildi-Samakhiali section which is 202.23 km and the Samakhiali-Gandhidham section, which is 53.08 km. |
| An additional Gandhidham-Kandla track of 12 kms will also be considered for revenue calculations. |
| The route will be designed for a maximum speed of 100 kms per hour. Upon completion of this project in 2006, the distance to Mundra Port from the northern hinterland will be reduced by 114 kms. |
| The distance advantage of Mundra port from Delhi as compared to JNPT, Mumbai, will increase to almost 240 kms. |
| The current Palanpur-Gandhidham metre gauge line traverses through the districts of Banaskantha and Kutch. |
| It was earlier an important link for the Kandla port with northern India, after conversion of Rewari-Ahmedabad section in 1997, it has become isolated and the traffic is now either going by Gandhidham-Viramgam section or by road. |
| For Mundra port though, this will be the second railway project. In 2001, the port completed a 57-km rail link between Adipur and Mundra port, thereby connecting the port to the national rail network. |
| This rail link and the container terminal were dedicated to the nation on December 13. Mundra port is promoted by the Adani group, based at Ahmedabad. |
| Its group company, Gujarat Adani Port Ltd (GAPL) is representing the group in this consortium. Sanjay Gupta, CEO (Infrastructure) signed the MOU for the Adani group. |
| Mundra Port commenced operations just four years ago and is projected to handle over 38 million tonnes of cargo by 2008-09. |
| A traffic study by AF Ferguson estimates that the port could eventually handle nearly 119 million tonnes by 2027-28. |
| When the international container terminal and Mundra-Adipur rail line was inaugurated last month, both the Adanis and P&O Ports wanted the Railways to expedite gauge conversion. |
| Both Adani group chairman Gautam Adani and P&O Ports director, South Asia, Jimmy Sarbh, asked for faster implementation of the project. |
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