The Union Railway Budget 2016-17 presented in the Parliament on Thursday has put Chhattisgarh on Centre’s high priority list among states for its ambitious dedicated freight corridor project implementation plans. The Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in his budget speech has put high emphasis on ensuring structuring, award and implementation of freight corridor projects in a time-bound manner through innovative financing mechanisms including Public Private Partnership (PPP).
The Union Railway Minister in his budget speech has also put emphasis on rapid expansion of freight business to build more dedicated freight corridors for increased traffic with consequent benefits for the economy and environment with Chhattisgarh being the direct gainer from the initiative due to high coal and iron ore movement through the Railway network from the State.
Prabhu also said that technological solutions for project management and monitoring will be taken up. The latest Drone and Geo Spatial based satellite technology will be used to monitor physical progress across major projects and also the progress on Dedicated Freight Corridor, he said.
Notably, on February 9, the Union Railway Minister had commented: ‘For development of the country, extension of rail network in resource-rich State like Chhattisgarh is necessary and the task of Rail network extension in the State will be carried out through a special joint venture company.”
He was speaking at a programme organized to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for three rail corridor project between Indian Railway and Chhattisgarh Government in New Delhi.
The country has witnessed maximum railway track extension work this year, stated Prabhu, adding that the efforts made by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on behalf of the State Government for expansion of Railway network in Chhattisgarh display his commitment towards Railway’s development in the State.
The Chhattisgarh Government is committed towards extension of Railway lines across the State with necessary support from Union Railway Ministry, Chief Minister Raman Singh had stated.
“Extension of Railway network is going to bring great fortune for Chhattisgarh by putting it on path of further development and efforts in this regard have already started in the State. As of now, 17 km-long railway route has been developed and soon it will reach 50 km mark,” he said.
Singh had further informed that Chhattisgarh Government has signed MoU for three railway corridor projects under which 762 km rail network will be developed.
The first Railway network will connect Dongargarh-Kawardha-Mungeli-Kota-Katghora with Bilaspur which would be 270 km long and the second network will be developed between Ambikapur and Barwadih (182 km) while the third network is going to link Raipur Balodabazar and Jharsuguda (310 km).
Meanwhile, Chief Minister demanded coaching terminal in Raigarh, Korba and Jagdalpur. Besides, he also demanded transfer of goods shed to Rajnandgaon and establishment of large manufacturing unit of Indian Railways in Chhattisgarh.
Notably, the South Eastern Coalfields ltd (SECl) has urged timely completion of East & East-West Rail Corridors which it said are crucial for coal evacuation from its Korba and Raigarh coalfields in Chhattisgarh.
The company has also recommended for requisite arrangement of internal transportation of coal to be established and also massive Railway capacity augmentation, officials stated.
The South East Central Sector which includes Chhattisgarh is set to play a key role in Central Government’s ambitious coal loading and transportation plans.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed recently between Ministry of Railways and Coal India limited (CIl) which will lead to procurement of 2000 wagons (33 rakes) in the first outgo, officials stated. The agreement which will result into speedy supply of wagons for coal loading in dedicated circuits.
Initially, the rakes will be inducted and run in the 2 main coal loading Zones of Indian Railways i.e South East Central coal sector and East Coast circuit.
These rakes will be inducted in circuits for transporting coal from MCl Talcher & IB area and SECl to Paradip/Dharma ports, Vishakhapatnam area and the power houses of Nagpur/Raipur region. Under this strategic partnership, the wagons will be procured by Indian Railways on behalf of CIl, the maintenance of these wagons will be done by Railways at its own cost. Also, the brake vans will be provided by Railways itself.
The Chhattisgarh Government will allocate 66 acres of land for speedy implementation of two key railway corridor projects in the State.
A decision was taken during a meeting of an inter-departmental committee chaired by State Revenue Minister Prem Prakash Pandey in Raipur recently, officials stated.
It move will expedite setting up of the East-West Rail Corridor and East corridor.
The 122 km long East-West Rail Corridor will be built on the Gevra Road-Deepika-Katghora-Sindurgarh-Pasan-Pendra Road section.
The Union Railway Ministry had already submitted a proposal to the Chhattisgarh Government for allotment of land for this project.
After considering the proposal, it was decided to allocate 52-acres of land for the purpose, of which 25 acres fall in Bilaspur district and the rest in Korba district. For the East Corridor, the Chhattisgarh Government has decided to allocate 14 acres of land in Raigarh district. The Corridor will be about 180 km long from Bhupdevpur-Gharghoda-Dharamjaygarh up to Korba.
The committee also sanctioned 20 acres of land for the under-construction rail route from Talaipalli to lara village where a plant of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is coming up in Raigarh district. Central public sector Mining, Steel and Railway infrastructure heavyweights including Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation (CMDC) signed a Shareholders' agreement for ensuring successful implementation of the Jagdalpur-Rowghat Railway line project in Chhattisgarh at Chief Minister Raman Singh’s office at his residence here.
The agreement was signed between representatives of NMDC, IRCON, SAIl and CMDC, officials stated.
This signing of the agreement has now opened the way for incorporation of the company-- an SPV formed under the name of Chhattisgarh South Railway Pvt ltd.
The project will be completed at a cost of nearly Rs2000 crore. On the occasion, the Chief Minister said that this entire railway project of 235 kms from Dallirajhara-Rowghat to Jagdalpur will prove beneficial for economic development of tribal-populated Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.
The project will connect Bastar directly with National Railway network. The equity of various JV partners is as follows— NMDC (National Mineral Development Corporation)-43%, IRCON- 26%, SAIl (Steel Authority of India ltd)- 21% and CMDC (Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation) 10%.
Notably, the Centre has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) each with the States of Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh for critical coal connectivity projects to improve transportation.