Public sector IRCON International ltd has commenced work in connection with the construction of new ‘Broad Guage Electrified Double Railway line’ in Chhattisgarh on the East West Corridor.
The work is being undertaken in Gevra Road-Pendra Road and Dipka, Kathghora, Sendurgahr and Pasan sections, officials stated.
Notably, freight train with speed of maximum 100 kms per hour will pass through Chhattisgarh in the East-West Corridor (Kolkata-Mumbai).
The train will traverse through the States of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra as the Ministry of Railways has sanctioned implementation of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) with freight train speeds of maximum 100 Kmph.
Development of two key Rail corridors in mineral-rich Chhattisgarh is now set to expand the Railway line network by 45 per cent in the State, officials stated.
The completion of 235-km Dallirajhara-Raoghat-Jagdalpur, East and East-West Rail corridor (300 km) projects will comprise a total of 535 kilometers Railway-line during the next two to four years, they stated. Chhattisgarh currently has only 1187 route kilometers Railway lines.
Chhattisgarh is also set to earn estimated revenue of `51,596 crore from its five mines auctioned among 29 in the country under the provisions of Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 during the mining lease period.
The South Eastern Coalfields ltd (SECl) has urged timely completion of East & East-West Rail Corridors which are crucial for coal evacuation from its Korba and Raigarh coalfields in Chhattisgarh.
The company has also urged for a 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.
Coal India ltd is targeting production of 1 billion tonnes of coal by 2020. Wagon availability will be a key factor for achieving this target by Coal India ltd. By signing of the MoU, the Railways and Coal India ltd will be entering into a strategic partnership which would ensure adequate wagon availability for meeting the transportation needs of coal produced by Coal India ltd. Notably, the Central Government has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding each with the states of Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh for critical coal connectivity projects to improve transportation of coal, officials informed.
Agreement for World Bank loan of US $ 1100 million for Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) (Phase-2) have also been signed, they stated.
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.