DFCC signs agreement with Railways

An agreement signed between Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC) and Railway Ministry will pave the way for approval of World Bank loan for the second and subsequent phases of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor.
The agreement was a legal requirement for procuring World Bank loan for the DFC project, said a senior DFCC official.
He said the concession agreement was finalised in consultation with ministries of Finance and Law and Planning Commission to define the relationship between Railways and DFCC and lays down the terms and conditions for the project and business of DFCC.
The DFCC is constructing the state-of-the art 3300-km-long Eastern and Western freight corridors for exclusive movement of goods trains for Railways.

The 1839-km-long Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor will traverse through Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal while the 1499-km-long Western Dedicated Freight corridor from Dadri (Uttar Pradesh) to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (Mumbai) will pass through Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
According to the agreement signed last week, DFCC will construct, maintain and operate the corridors. The DFC infrastructure will be available to all authorised rail operator on non-discriminatory basis.

DFCC would encourage, promote and support development of new rail freight terminals and freight logistics centres alongside the new railway which would enable marketing for additional traffic.

It would also facilitate development of connectivity to new industries along the corridor. Track access charges will be decided by the Tariff Regulatory Authority as and when set up.
Eastern and Western freight corridors will contribute significantly towards the economic development of the states encompassing them as well as to ease the traffic congestion on the existing railways network.
The core sector like power houses, fertiliser, food grains, and export import of the country is expected to be benefitted by this infrastructure.