Western corridor likely to be completed by 2025, says DFCC MD RK Jain

Awaiting Railway Board nod for future corridors, says MD

The much-awaited Western dedicated freight corridor, which connects Maharashtra with northern India, will be completed by the end of 2025, marking the completion of the dedicated freight corridor project after over 10 years of being conceptualised.

“The corridor has been completed in all states except Maharashtra. The project section in the state has seen physical progress of 50 per cent so far, and is likely to be completed by December 2025,” Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCC) managing director RK Jain said on Friday.

The Vaitarna-JNPT section of the western corridor is the last leg of the project, which had been stuck in the past due to shortcomings of the contractor, Tata Projects. The company was served a termination notice by DFCC in 2023, which was later revoked.

 

Currently, the ministry of railways SPV is running 325 trains per day (as of June 2024), which is 60 per cent more than last year. The Eastern DFC, between Punjab and Bihar, was completed last year and has been extensively used this financial year to ensure timely delivery of thermal coal to power houses.

According to DFCC, more than 10 per cent of the national transporter's freight volumes are being handled by it.

Jain said that the completion of DFCs will be a vital landmark for India to reduce its logistics cost and for railways to gain a 45 per cent modal share in national logistics.

The corporation was also entrusted with project planning for three future freight corridors – north-south (Itarsi-Vijaywada), east coast (Kharagpur-Vijaywada), and east-west (Palghar-Dankuni).

Jain said that DFCC has submitted detailed project reports (DPRs) for these projects to the ministry of railways and is awaiting a decision on the same.

According to the company, the transit time for coal from mines to thermal power plants (TPPs) has reduced from 35 hours in the past to 20 hours now.

Jain, who headed the organisation from 2020, will serve until July 31. A new managing director has been appointed and will take over starting August to oversee the completion of the Western DFC, officials said.