24 global firms bid for Eastern DFC project

24 global companies have joined the race for bagging a Rs 4000-crore contract of the Eastern Dediated Freight Corridor project for laying a 393-km long rail route from Kanpur to Mughalsarai.
The firms include TATA Projects Ltd, Gammon India Ltd, Essar Infrastructure, Punj Llyod, AFCONS, IVRCL, GMR Infrastructure, SOMA Enterprises, KEC International, Gyatri Projects, Megha Engineering, ERA Infrastructure and BSCPL among others.
"24 international companies in joint venture with leading Indian construction companies have submitted their application for pre-qualification on July 4 for the second phase of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor project from Kanpur to Mughalsarai in Uttar Pradesh," said a senior DFCCIL official.

The companies will be shortlisted for the project after the clearance from World Bank within 45 days.
The World Bank has agreed in principle to part finance the Eastern Corridor project from Mughalsarai to Ludhiana, which has been divided into 3 phases.
The total in-principle loan commitment is USD 2.725 billion, out of which the loan for the first phase to the tune of USD 975 million was sanctioned in May, 2011 and the loan agreement was signed in October, 2011.

The loan for the second phase is expected to be of the order of USD 1200 million.
DFCCIL, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), is engaged in planning, construction, operation and maintenance of the dedicated freight corridors and in the first phase, the two corridors, namely, Eastern Corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni (1839 kms) and the Western Corridor from Dadri to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) (1499 kms) are being constructed.

The entire Western Corridor is being funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), while the Eastern Corridor from Mughalsarai to Ludhiana is being funded by the World Bank.