PM's push to DFC, PMO to monitor progress

New Delhi, Feb 9: Railways' ambitious Rs 1 lakh crore Dedicated Freight Corridor project on Thursday got a push from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who directed central departments concerned and states to give the project "highest priority" and expedite work which will be monitored by the PMO.

Singh reviewed the progress of the project at a meeting, where it was decided that state governments would set up monitoring committees to resolve the issues especially land-acquisition in an expeditious manner so that it is completed by the projected deadline of 2017.

The Prime Minister directed that the Dedicated Freight Corridor Project should be given the highest priority by central ministries and urged the State Governments to also do so, a statement by the PMO said.

The 3300-km long project, which will criss-cross various states, is expected to be a backbone of India's economic transport facility.

The PMO will be closely monitoring progress of the project so that necessary action is taken in a time-bound manner, the statement said.

At the meeting, the Chief Secretaries and the representatives of the states assured full cooperation of their state governments in taking forward this important project.

The representatives of the nodal authority Dedicated Freight Corridor Cooperation India Limited (DFCCIL) will be overseeing progress of work with the targeted project completion date being March 2017.

The DFCCIL has said that 67 per cent of the land-acquisition has been completed through the Railway Amendment Act 2008 and as of now the project by and large is on target.

The Western DFC from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust near Mumbai will be 1499 km and will connect Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra with an exclusive high speed railway track.

The Eastern DFC from Ludhiana to Dankuni will be 1839 km long and will connect Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.

A major part of Western corridor will be funded with Japanese assistance and nearly two-third of the Eastern corridor will be built with World Bank assistance.

The Sonnagar-Dankuni section will be executed on PPP mode.

Indian Railways is also investing a substantial amount in the Project.

PTI