Eastern Freight Corridor cut short; major project runs into land hurdles

The Eastern arm of DFCCIL's Dedicated Freight Corridor has been cut short by 538 km, leaving a key segment unfinished due to land acquisition issues and weakening economic viability

Almost twenty years after being conceived in 2004, the eastern arm of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) has terminated 538 km short of the Kolkata port.

In terms of actual investment, at about Rs 21,500 crore, this has been one of the costliest infrastructure projects in India to have run aground. The line was to run from Sahnewal in Punjab, close to Ludhiana, to Dankuni, the railhead near Kolkata port. The distance was 1,875 km when it was planned. It is now truncated to 1,337 km, shortening the distance by almost 29 per cent.