A 17-member World Bank's implementation mission reviewed the progress of the 1,839 km-long Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) in a week-long visit from May 14 to 18 here.
The eastern corridor is financed by World Bank with a loan of USD 975 million in the first phase, for which loan agreement was signed in October last year.
The expert team also discussed various issues related with new technology to be adopted and their implementation for construction of the freight corridor, a DFC official said.
A review on the ongoing bid process for Phase-I from Khurja to Kanpur was also discussed. The contract of this phase is likely to be awarded by September.
The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCCIL) is constructing 3,300 km-long eastern and western dedicated freight corridors for goods trains.
The eastern corridor is traversing states like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
The 1,499 km-long Western Dedicated Freight corridor from Dadri (Uttar Pradesh) to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (Mumbai) passes through Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
The eastern and western freight corridors will contribute in a great manner towards the economic development of the states, as well as to ease the traffic load on existing network of Indian Railways.
The core sector like power-houses, fertiliser, food grains will benefit from this infrastructure.
