A major contract worth Rs 5,080 crore has been awarded to GIL-SIL -- a joint venture of GMR Infrastructure Ltd and SEW Infrastructure Ltd -- by Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC) for the laying of a 402-km -long railway track between Kanpur and Mughalsarai.
GIL-SIL beat away competition from 24 other bidders who had taken part in an international bidding process for the work to lay the double track between the Mughalsarai-New Bhaupur (Kanpur) section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, said a senior DFCC official.
The World Bank contract entails design and construction of civil structure and track work involving embankments, bridges, track, stations, maintenance depots and other buildings between Kanpur and Mughalsarai stations in Uttar Pradesh, which is one of the most congested sections of Indian Railways.
DFCC, a Special Purpose Vehicle, is engaged in the planning, construction, operation and maintenance of the dedicated freight corridors.
In the first phase, two corridors -- namely the Eastern Corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni (1839-km) and the Western Corridor from Dadri to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (1520-km) -- are being constructed.
The entire Western Corridor project is being funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), while work on the Eastern Corridor from Mughalsarai to Ludhiana is being funded by World Bank.
