Tata Projects, Adani Group among others to attend meet on developing 374-km EDFC section

The World Bank, IFC and Indian firms such as Tata Projects, Adani Group, L&T and GMR are among the companies that will be part of a stakeholders' meeting on Tuesday for the development of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor's 374-km Sonnagar (New Chiraila Pauthu)-New Andal section, a statement said.

New Delhi: The World Bank, IFC and Indian firms such as Tata Projects, Adani Group, L&T and GMR are among the companies that will be part of a stakeholders' meeting on Tuesday for the development of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor's 374-km Sonnagar (New Chiraila Pauthu)-New Andal section, a statement said.

Financial organisations such Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Limited will also participate. A statement from the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation Limited (DFCCIL) said the project will be carried out in design-finance-build-operate, and maintain and transfer (DFBOT) mode on PPP (Public Private Partnership) basis.

Other organisations which have shown interest in the project include the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, GR Infraprojects ltd, iDeCK, Kalpataru Power Transmission ltd, and Megha Engineering & Infrastructures ltd. MNCs like Siemens, ABB Power Products and Systems India Ltd, Sojitz-India & Sojitz -Japan, Nippon Koei India Pvt. Ltd, KEC International Ltd. and consultancy firms like KPMG have also shown interest.

"The section, which is estimated at a cost of approximately Rs 12,000 crore, is expected to serve major power houses, industrial corridors and MMLPs in Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh," the statement said. It also said that the economic benefits of the project are mainly due to release of capacity from the existing lines by shifting of freight traffic from the railways to Sonnagar (New Chiraila Pauthu) New Andal section of EDFC and the reduction of commercial vehicular traffic on road.

Opportunities available to the concessionaire are lower risk to the private player due to revenue share vis-a-vis projected traffic, ease of funding with availability of 100% FDI for the project, the statement said. The stakeholders of the Project include Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), state governments and steel manufacturers.

"A major USP of the project is the connectivity between Eastern DFC and Western DFC at Dadri (UP), enabling smooth flow of traffic from Western ports to Eastern parts of India," it said.

(PTI)