Project reports for new freight corridors to be ready by Dec: R K Jain

In a Q&A, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India MD R. K. Jain speaks about the timeline of the projects and the larger plan to build a countrywide freight corridor network

Dedicated freight corridors (DFCs) have been touted as the long-needed revolution in India’s logistics space. After more than a decade in the making, the first two DFCs — Eastern and Western — are finally nearing completion. In an interview with Dhruvaksh Saha, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCI) Managing Director R. K. Jain speaks about the timeline of the projects and the larger plan to build a countrywide freight corridor network. Edited excerpts:

What is the current progress on DFCs?

We are working on Eastern and Western DFCs. Apart from the stretches undertaken solely by us, there’s a public private participation project on the Dankuni-Sonnagar stretch (537 kms), on which we will start work soon. Around a year ago, two parts of the DFCs were inaugurated by the prime minister. Since then, we have opened two more stretches — 130 kms between Prayagraj and Kanpur and a 137-km stretch between Deendayal Updhyay Nagar and Sonnagar on the EDFC, and 359 kms between Madar and Palanpur, along with the 70-km stretch of Palanpur-Mehsana, on the WDFC. 

With this, currently 47 per cent of the two DFCs are operational. When the June 2022 target was fixed, India hadn't reported any Covid cases. During the first wave, our productive season was lost and by the time curbs were eased, the monsoon had arrived. So we couldn't continue construction. In 2021, we were hit by the Delta wave of coronavirus during our peak construction period.

Despite these odds, we will finish 90 per cent of the work on DFCs by June 2023. We are confident of finishing 100 per cent work on EDFC and all work on WDFC, barring a 100-125 km stretch in Maharashtra, by then.

Why is the Maharashtra stretch taking so long?

There are some geographical constraints in that area. Monsoon is arriving, so work can only start by November. There is also a land availability issue of around 2 kms around Palghar. While that is the total area, it’s not one stretch of land. The land issues are in fragmented patches. There are encroachers on these lands and according to government regulations, we cannot evict encroachers during monsoons. So any progress on that can happen only after October.

Moreover, there is a National Green Tribunal order that has stopped all our earthwork. The railway board has intervened to ensure we can continue the work. So barring this portion, we will be done with 90 per cent by June 2023.

There had also been concerns over DFCCI’s capital expenditure execution. What is your perspective on it?

I want to clarify that there has never been an issue of non-availability of funds. Our finances are fully on track and Indian Railways is keen to give even more than what is required to ensure efficiency. Our capital expenditure has also increased 8 per cent year-on-year to Rs 14,554 crore in 2021-22, despite the fact that there were two Covid waves.

Cost estimates of the two DFCs have been revised. Has the proposal been sanctioned?

We have sent the proposal to the railways ministry with the revised cost of Rs 1.24 trillion. The cost revision currently has not impacted our plans as we have ample availability of funds as of now.

The government has planned three new DFCs — North-South, East-West, and East Coast. What is the progress on the DPRs for those?

We have already submitted interim detailed project reports (DPRs) to the railways ministry, which are based on abstract costs. There’s a total cost of Rs 40-50 crore per km on each DFC, and there are over 4,000 kms of the new DFCs, so the cost will be in a ballpark based on these initial estimates. The interim report has been submitted, and the final will be submitted by the end of this year.

The initial timeline for DPR completion was October, but recently our scope of the project has increased. The East-West corridor was supposed to be only till Bhusawal, but it has been extended till Palghar. We are looking at extending the Vijaywada segment by 60-70 kms. Hence, the revised timeline is till the end of this year.

Once the detailed cost estimates are sent, the ministry will make a call on the sanctioning of these projects.

What is the bigger picture of DFCs going forward?

As the project continues, the scale will widen. With the country’s economy growing, the transportation and logistics need to grow multifold in comparison to that. Moreover, we need to reduce the cost of logistics, as ours is much higher than most leading economies globally. The DFC network will definitely increase more in the coming years, and the quicker we do it, the better. There will be further penetration in the deep south and we will also look at connecting the North-South corridor to Delhi via Itarsi.