Rlys need 11,100 acres for freight corridor

The Railways will need to acquire about 11,100 acres for constructing the Rs 22,500-crore dedicated freight corridor which will pass through eight states "" Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

While 6,177 acres will need to be acquired to construct the western rail corridor, another 4,971 acres have to be acquired for the eastern corridor.

Railway officials said the estimates have been prepared by RITES, which is conducting a detailed study on the project. The total track length is 2,700 km, of which 1,250 km is on the eastern corridor and 1,450 km on the western one.

RITES is expected to submit a detailed project report by December. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has already given an in-principle approval for the project and the railways is also forming a special purpose vehicle to fund the project.

Asked whether the project might run into dificulties in land acquisition, senior officials said they were more worried about the SPV than land acquisition.

"Since there is a provision under the Railway Act for acquiring lands it will not be as difficult for us. Moreover, since construction of a railway track does not improve real estate prices of a region when compared to a highway, people are usually more willing to sell their land," the official said.

Railway officials admit that given that investors will have to wait for at least five years "" till completion of the project "" it will be difficult to get private companies to participate in the SPV.