India weighs hybrid annuity model for East-West freight corridor

The proposed East-West Dedicated Freight Corridor (EWDFC) may be developed on Hybrid Annuity according to an official statement issued Wednesday. Financing models for the same were deliberated during a conference organised by the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) - which is currently managing the east and west freight tracks.

“Discussions focused on the financing framework, construction strategy, stakeholder participation, and implementation roadmap for the EWDFC under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM),” the statement said.

The earlier freight corridors were built on Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) mode. An attempt to develop a portion of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) on public private partnership (PPP) could not take off.


The proposed East–West Dedicated Freight Corridor, will connect Surat in Gujarat to Dankuni in West Bengal over approximately 2,316 km. It was announced during Budget 2026-27.

The conference was attended by infrastructure investors and advisory organisations such as National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), CDPQ India, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, EY, PwC, Siemens Financial Services, ICRA, CARE Ratings, CRISIL and India Ratings & Research.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), World Bank, MUFG Bank, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India, IDBI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Union Bank of India, UCO Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL), Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), Power Finance Corporation (PFC), REC Limited, HUDCO, National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID), International Finance Corporation (IFC), New Development Bank (NDB) and YES Bank participated during the conference held in the national capital.

DFCCIL said this reflected strong investor confidence and broad stakeholder interest in the implementation of the East–West Dedicated Freight Corridor.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Afcons Infrastructure, Tata Projects, IRCON International, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), RITES Ltd., G R Infra projects, Ashoka Buildcon, Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd. (MEIL), Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), Kalpataru Projects International, KEC International, GPT Infraprojects, Dineshchandra R. Agrawal Infracon Pvt. Ltd. (DRAIPL), GMR Group and Hindalco Industries. Representatives from the logistics and freight sector, including Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) , Adani Road Transport Ltd and DP World also participated in the deliberations.