Chhattisgarh Railway Corporation limited (CRCl) -- a Joint Venture Company of Government of Chhattisgarh and Ministry of Railways has identified Barwadih-Chirmiri project in Chhattisgarh as a potential project for further development, the Central Government has informed.
The company awarded a consultancy contract in November 2017 for assessment of economic viability and feasibility of the Barwadih to Ambikapur new line project, officials informed.
Sanction of project will be based on feasibility study being conducted by Chhattisgarh Railway Corporation limited.
The then Planning Commission has accorded (June 2012) ‘In Principle’ approval to the aforesaid project with the condition that the Railway gets land free of cost from concerned State Government and approach Coal India, which has huge investible surplus, with the request to jointly develop this project as a joint venture, it informed.
A part of Barwadih-Chirmiri (182 Km) railway line project -- Barwadih to Sarnadih (64.33 Km) was initially sanctioned by Railway Board in 1947.
Formation work including some of the bridges were completed. However, the work was stopped in the beginning of 1950 owing to financial stringencies.
In survey done in 1978, old alignment was not found technically feasible due to change in ruling gradient and specifications. Updating survey for new line between Barwadih-Chirmiri (Ambikapur) (182 Km) was conducted in year 2010-11 at a cost of Rs 1104.50 crore with Rate of Return (ROR) of 8.61%.
Further, the then Planning Commission was requested (March 2012) to accord ‘In Principle’ approval to the work of new line between Barwadih and Ambikapur (182 Km) at a cost of Rs 1104.50 crore. Out of total project length of 182 Km, 77 Km falls in the State of Jharkhand and remaining 105 Km falls in the State of Chhattisgarh.