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The japanese and western dedicated freight corridors (DFCs) can be delayed once more for the fifth time on this decade. The completion deadline of the initiatives is now being prolonged for 2 years over pandemic-induced challenges and land acquisition delays.
The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCC) has despatched its revised completion estimates to the Ministry of Railways, in search of time until 2023 to finish Eastern DFC and 2024 for the Western DFC, Business Standard has learnt.
The japanese and western DFCs have been earlier slated to be accomplished by June 2022. The venture was initially anticipated to be accomplished in 2017. Since then, it has been prolonged to March 2018, March 2020, December 2021, and June 2022.
Marred by Covid-induced delays in land acquisition, contractual fulfilment, and money circulate considerations, DFCC in its venture standing report in December had said, “Progress of works is badly affected in Covid second wave, targets are likely to be delayed.”
The revised timelines, nonetheless, have upset the railways ministry, which in its inside communications expressed dissatisfaction, and sought to maneuver in the direction of the targets, educated officers mentioned.
“There were internal concerns over the revised targets. We thought DFCC could have implemented certain things faster, but after consultations over its issues as the executing agency, there is consensus to go forward with the proposed targets,” mentioned a senior official.
The latest goal, though farther than anticipated, is a extra practical one, a railways official mentioned.
There have additionally been lags in capital expenditure (capex) by DFCC. As of March, the government-owned agency has spent a bit of greater than two-thirds of its Rs 15,000-crore capex goal for the monetary 12 months 2021-22, the corporate’s inside experiences present.
DFCC has to date commissioned 1,010 kilometres (km) of the proposed 2,843 km pertaining to stretches undertaken by the federal government for each corridors. A 538-km stretch between Sonnagar in Bihar and Dankuni in West Bengal is being developed in PPP mode.
Since its inception in 2007, the federal government’s marquee logistics venture has undergone a number of delays on account of considerations over land acquisition and contract awarding lags. The company had cited points with procurement of imported items and rising costs of metal as challenges to well timed execution.
There have been value overruns on account of repeated delays. The preliminary value estimate of Rs 21,040 crore was revised to Rs 81,459 crore in 2015 and is now more likely to be revised to over Rs 1.24 trillion. Business Standard had beforehand reported that the ministry is anticipated to maneuver the Union Cabinet to sanction the revised value quickly.
DFCC didn’t reply to a questionnaire despatched by the paper until print time.
Freight corridors are particular tracks made for items trains, geared toward decongesting the rail community and making certain faster motion of products.
With the federal government’s concentrate on infrastructure growth, the DFC venture has been touted as a game-changer in freight motion, with fixed monitoring from the uppermost echelons of the federal government. In 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned that DFCs will result in speedy growth, calling them a boon for the nation.
The japanese DFC (1,875 route kilometre, or rkm) ranging from Sahnewal close to Ludhiana (Punjab) will move by way of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand, terminating in West Bengal.
Western DFC (1,506 rkm), which is able to join the numerous Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) to Uttar Pradesh, will move by way of Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. JNPT accounts for over half of the nation’s port cargo.
As the prevailing initiatives face delays, the Centre is now giving a rethink to the upcoming DFCs. Earlier reported by the Business Standard, the ministry is mulling to scrap the three newly proposed East Coast, East-West, and North-South DFC. It is as a substitute planning to reinforce the capability of the present corridors.
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